Bulletin Articles: Full Article for Record Number 1016
Our Sacrifices Differ
by Larry Ray Hafley
When soldiers die in combat, we mourn. We also feel guilty, perhaps, because they have given their lives while we yet live. When the soldier died, a mother lost her child. A tender lady lost her young husband. They have suffered and sacrificed, too. In combat, it is not only the front line fighters who endure hardship.
It is true in the warfare of Christ. (Make no mistake about it. We are in a warfare [2 Cor. 10:3-5; 1 Tim. 1:18; 2 Tim. 2:3; 4:7].) We admire and honor those who so great things in the fray for the faith. We wish that we, too, could do such good things for the cause of our King, the Captain of our salvation. We feel as though we are doing nothing for the kingdom of heaven’s sake. It is not true! We all serve. We all suffer. We all sacrifice. Not in the same way and not to the same extent, but we all wear the armament of Prince Emmanuel.
Yes, I am thankful for the courage and sacrifices made by pioneer preachers, men who risk their lives and the comforts of home to establish churches. Benjamin Franklin, (the preacher, not the statesman), J. D. Tant and many others lesser known, left their farms and went out to preach the gospel. Their wives and children bore the loneliness and periodic poverty. We rightly praise the memory of such great and good men, men who "left it all" to follow Christ, but we should remember that they were not alone in their sacrifice. Through many long weeks and months, at the end of the day, did the wife of Benjamin Franklin sit by the window and yearn for the return of her husband while she tended the farm and raised a family. Her children saw her tears and in their later years wondered how she had been able to do her work while going many weeks without hearing the sound of an adult voice.
Abraham had to leave his country, his kin, and his clan (Gen. 12). Moses had to give up an exalted position of ease and comfort (Heb. 11:22-24). Paul surrendered a brilliant career in the religion of his fathers (Gal. 1:13, 14; Phil. 3:3-6). Rightly do we receive encouragement from their sacrifices. It is proper to esteem them highly in love for their works of faith and labors of love. While we may not have to pay such a toll on the highway to heaven, we still must bear our cost. Our cross may not be as painful to bear as that of another, but it is the one with which we have been blessed. So, let us carry it without complaint and share it without grudging. I may not have but one talent. You may have five. Let each of us do our duty and meet our responsibilities in the kingdom, and the peace, when it comes, will be sweet to both of us.
