Apparently on this date in history a guy with the very strange name of Ignatius of Antioch was martyred.
Apparently he was so eager to be martyred for Christ's sake that he even begged the Roman church not to prevent his death. Before his death, Ignatius wrote to seven churches instructing them to be unified, to trust their leaders, and to be steadfast in the faith.

When I read stories of people being martyred (killed for their faith), it freaks me out. I am one of those people who has a vivid imagination. I think of the situation, imagine being there, imagine the pain and the torment. I am also a person with a very low pain threshold, so the whole thing takes on huge significance in my mind.
When I heard about Ignatius of Antioch this week I thought about it different this time. I wanted to know why he was not concerned about the pain. I wanted to know why he was so keen to die and that it not be delayed.

The Bible says we are aliens in this world, that this world is not our true home. This guy obviously was keen to get ‘home’.Paul in one of his writings in the New Testament even said he was torn between two worlds. He longed to be here on earth and longed to be with God in heaven.
Both these men died living for Jesus.
It seemed to them to be an honour to do so.

In our little corner of the world we don’t face this issue, and to be honest I am really really happy about it!
The point maybe though is not how they died but that they were willing too.
They didn’t see the gift of life as something that belonged to them completely.
They saw this life as something to be given away freely.

What challenges me today is how much am I willing to be like Ignatius or Paul. How much do I want to live for Christ?

Paul also said these immortal words…
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Let us live our lives for the ‘great cause’.
Let us throw off the stuff that hinders us…And let us not be afraid to give what we have in this world to gain something better for the next...

Locky of Howick