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MESSAGE FROM DAILY PROMISES :
"History knows them as the 40 martyrs of Sebaste. They were soldiers in
the famed Twelfth Legion of Rome's imperial army, around A.D. 320. One
day the captain informed his troops that Emperor Licinius had sent down
an edict commanding all soldiers to offer a sacrifice to his pagan god.
Forty of the soldiers were followers of Christ, and they refused.
The
emperor decided to make an example of the soldiers, so he marched them
onto a frozen lake and stripped them of their clothes. "Renounce your
God and you will be spared from death," he told them. Not one man came
forward. Throughout the night the men stayed together, singing their
song of victory: "Forty Martyrs for Christ."
When morning
came, 39 of the men had frozen to death. The one survivor recanted his
confession of faith. The officer in charge that night had been so moved
by the scene that during his watch he'd come to Jesus, so he broke rank
and walked out onto the ice. Stripping his clothes he openly confessed
his faith in Christ. He refused to renounce his new faith. When the
ordeal was over, the Roman soldiers carried 40 frozen men off of the
ice.
In comparison, my life is like a long night on a soft
mattress. I may one day be faced with serious consequences for my
faith. You may, too. Will we have the strength of character and heart
and faith to stand strong just the same?
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