For what would you be willing to die? A utility room?
According to an ad that I saw, a house in my area has a “utility room to die for.” Not to make fun of a writer’s exuberant use of a figure of speech, but I cannot imagine a utility room that important. Does it do the laundry for you? Maybe if it could automatically siphon teen children’s clothes from their rooms, wash them, and put them away all by itself, that might be worth getting excited over. But, “to die for”?
So, what would we be willing to die for? A son or a daughter? Yes. It is not surprising that Dr. Ramesh Shah gave his life one Sunday trying to rescue his son from a rip current off Ormond Beach, Florida. When the ten-year-old cried for help, his dad plunged in after him. The son lived; the father drowned. If you have children, you understand.
What about a stranger? Would you die for someone you did not know? How about an enemy?
That’s what Jesus did. “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:7-8).
Amazing, isn’t it? Even for those who hammered the nails into his hands, Jesus was willing to die. Even for those who jeered at him, for those who spat on him, he was willing to give his life. Even for you and me, long before we were born, long before we first rejected him. Jesus, the Christ, saw people to die for, and he did.
Back to our question: For what would you be willing to die? If you ponder that a bit, and make a list, I think you’ll find the list to be a short one. Few things are “to die for.” But once you’ve identified what’s worth dying for, you will have answered another question of great daily relevance: What is worth living for?
If it’s worth dying for, it’s worth living for, too. Your God, your family, your friends, and your own eternal security – these are likely on your list. Your income, job, and possessions? Probably not. Doesn’t it make sense to live only for things worth dying for?
A utility room isn’t on my list. What’s on yours?
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