cheekysharon.

This past summer, I went to China and  met a group of Chinese Christians who had dedicated their lives for the sake of the gospel. Because there is limited religious freedom (if any) in China, these students had to hide up in the mountains behind an orchard in order to study the Bible and lived every day risking their lives for Christ. Their faith cost them something. They knew that by being there they could be arrested, imprisoned any minute.. but to them it was a risk worth taking because there was nothing they treasured more than their faith in Christ.

In the comforts of America, we do not live with such fears. I went to Bible Study last night, and not once during my drive there did I worry that I would be stopped and asked by an official authority where I was going. During the actual bible study, not once did I fret anxiously, afraid that at any time somebody would barge in and arrest us all. I read my bible this morning in my apartment, in complete freedom, not having to think twice about what it would cost me to sit here to read. We can choose what version of the bible we want, we have hundreds of books that teach us what the Bible is saying, we have study bibles (sometimes more than one!) and we even have access to thousands and thousands of sermons online from pastors from different states and countries, all just one click away. and all it costs us nothing…but our time (at most). Our greatest sacrifice is finding time in our so-called “busy schedules” to read even one chapter a day. to cough a few minutes in the morning to pray.

I think the hard thing about living in a country with so much religious freedom is we don’t really understand the true cost of discipleship. It really doesn’t cost us much here. But in places like China, these Chinese students risked everything for this. They knew they could lose everything in one moment because of their decision to follow Christ. But they knew there was more to this life than just the here and now, and Christ was their greatest treasure.

Alex & I had run a class and taught them praise songs in English, and one day after we were hanging out they taught me this song. Even though it’s an English song, I had never heard it before. I remember coming back and looking for the song myself. As simple as the lyrics of this song may be, I see why this song was one that brought them much encouragement. Even when I listen to this song now, it reminds me of the passion and love that I saw in that small room when they were praising that day. Jesus was everything to them and He’s all they had. and to them, and that really was more than enough.

What examples of faith they are to me.

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If my heart has grown cold,
There Your love will unfold;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
When I’m blind to my way,
There Your Spirit will pray;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.


Oceans will part; nations come
At the whisper of Your call.
Hope will rise; glory shown.
In my life, Your will be done.


Present suffering may pass,
Lord, Your mercy will last;
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.
And my heart will find praise,
I’ll delight in Your way,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand,
As You open my eyes to the work of Your hand.

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So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18