The local religious leader began to stir up the town’s people against a new follower of Jesus, a young man called N. Stones were gathered, and the villagers rushed to lay hold of N., dragging him to the predetermined place for stoning.
Just as the first stones were raised in the villagers' hands, a sudden storm with a mighty wind and rain materialized. The deluge drove the villagers away. N. was shaken, but unharmed.
This angered the religious leader even more, and he made a plan with others to try again. Several days after the attempted stoning, the same young men seized N., holding him down while they kicked him, beat him and cut his throat. The young victim survived this brutality and was hospitalized.
We visited N. in the state hospital, offering legal advice and medical assistance. I told him, "This is illegal and is against your constitution. We can go to the state prosecutor, who will assist you."
His response, however, was, "Thank you for your offer of help, but the Bible says to forgive those who persecute you. I am going back home and will visit with those who beat me. I will tell them that God forgave my sins. I forgive them."
Just as I wrote in this blog post about living for Jesus or dying for Jesus
Are we called to die for the cause of Christ? Certanly if the situation demads it. But, isn't it harder to lay down my life every day at His feet and live for Him instead of myself??