I thought I'd include another quote from another book I'm reading, because it made me stop and think for a while, and really I'm still thinking about it even now. It comes from the book In God's Underground, by Richard Wurmbrand. He's a pastor that was tortured in Romania during communist rule around the 1950's. He writes about how two guys, Daianu and Ghinda readily gave up their faith so that life would be easier for them and they could leave the prison. A man in the cell with Wurmbrand comments, "Strange that men who wrote with what seemed deep Christian faith should turn traitor so easily!" Wurmbrand's response is, "Perhaps the answer was that in their writings Daianu and Ghinda praised Christ for the gifts. He gives us--peace, love, salvation. A real disciple does not seek gifts, but Christ himself, and so is ready for self-sacrifice to the end. They were not followers of Jesus, but customers; when the Communists opened a shop next door with goods at lower prices, they took their custom there."
Am I just a customer of Jesus, seeking the gifts He has to offer or am I seeking after him? If at a given time all He has to offer me is suffering, will I still cling to Him, still trust in Him, still praise Him? Lord teach me to be your bride, not your customer.
