A busy day, Father, with getting routes set up for this school year. Thank You, for a challenging district meeting to start the day and the ability to accomplish quite a bit throughout the day as well.
John 12:37-43 (<<click here to read the passage)
So, what’s more important to believe what is true or the act on what is true? It can be difficult to believe, but honestly, we can easily be closet believers of truth. But often, it is extremely difficult to act upon what we believe to be true.
Pondering this, one family comes to mind. I’ve referred to the ten Boom family before, but they stand out in that they were not just believers in mind and heart only but also in word and deed.
The ten Boom family lived in the Dutch town of Haarlem in the Netherlands when Nazi Germany invaded their homeland in 1940. The family were faithful followers of Christ and felt obligated to help the Jews in every way possible. Their home soon became the center of a major anti-Nazi operation. Corrie, the oldest daughter, found herself involved in black market operations, using stolen ration cards, and eventually hiding Jews in her own home.
A fake wall was built in Corrie’s room, providing a space for Jews to hide as they waited to be shipped out to safety. Eventually, they were betrayed, and Corrie, her elderly father, Casper, and her sister Betsie were arrested. (The Jews hidden behind the fake wall were not discovered and found their way to freedom.)
Casper, now in his mid-80s, is offered freedom if he causes no more trouble. He states that if he is set free, he will return home and help the first person who asks him for it. He is shipped to prison and…died 10 days later.
Corrie and Betsie eventually end up in Ravensbrück, a notorious women’s concentration camp.
There they find only hatred and misery; Corrie finds it hard to look to Heaven. Betsie, however, shows a universal love for everyone: not only the prisoners but also the Nazis. Instead of feeling anger, she pities the Germans and is sorrowful that they were so blinded by hatred. She yearns to show them the love of Christ but dies before the war was over. Corrie is later providentially released because of a clerical error.
In 1971 she shares her story in the book The Hiding Place, which is eventually made into a movie by the same name.
In verses 42-43 of today’s passage it states,
…many of the leading men believed in Him [as Savior and Messiah], but because of the Pharisees they would not confess it, for fear that [if they acknowledged Him openly] they would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated); for they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God. AMP
They believed what was true, that Jesus was Savior and Messiah, but they held back from acting on that truth.
Earlier in Jesus’ ministry had staunchly proclaimed,
“Everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven. Matthew 10:32-32 NLT
Lord Jesus, may we never hold back on acting upon our faith in You. It may be costly on this side of eternity but as my study Bible says, “We should be much more concerned about God’s eternal acceptance than about the temporary approval of other people.”
An article of The Hiding Place on Wikipedia
Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 23rd, 2021, Mon, 7:30 pm
