What Would You Die For?
What do you have to Live For?
John 11:25 NRS
Even when there is grave danger to oneself, when given a righteous mission for goals beyond themselves, ordinary people become quite extraordinary. There are many stories from times of war where even selfish people were extraordinary in their unselfishness for their comrades. In our war on selfishness, one Glorious man's selflessness stands out.
What do you have to Live For?
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Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ..."
A movie released some time ago described a time of near total nuclear destruction and lawlessness in the US. Nearly all copies of the Bible have been destroyed, but people remember its Power.
In this movie, "The Book of Eli", Denzel Washington's character, Eli, finds a book, a book in a language he cannot read, but feels the necessity, an inward push, the call, to take this book out West, someplace, to shape a new society.
In faith, he courageously follows his feelings not really knowing his destination or even why he should do this mission, but he felt an inner demand to complete the mission. He had faith, he felt 'called', even in not knowing the why; but trusted his inner demand. He just knows he will know when he has found a home for "the book".
He has to violently protect the Book and he has to kill many and all his enemies who get in the way, people he does not know. He had no desire to kill but all the time knowing he could die because of his mission and his strange faith. He, Eli, was faithful to his mission and not always understanding why. In the possibility of dying he found reason to live in his mission.
In this movie, "The Book of Eli", Denzel Washington's character, Eli, finds a book, a book in a language he cannot read, but feels the necessity, an inward push, the call, to take this book out West, someplace, to shape a new society.
He has to violently protect the Book and he has to kill many and all his enemies who get in the way, people he does not know. He had no desire to kill but all the time knowing he could die because of his mission and his strange faith. He, Eli, was faithful to his mission and not always understanding why. In the possibility of dying he found reason to live in his mission.
This reminds me of my attitude Vietnam. Before I went, I had decided I might die for my country, and that was important, even if I died. There, I found something much greater to die for(*1), it wasn't Vietnam.
That student really had little to live for because he had little more than himself to die for. If we do not have something greater than ourselves to die for then we have little to live for than our own selfish interests.
What would you die for? In Vietnam, I learned I would die for my country- the USA, if need be, I knew I could die resupplying 300 men in An Loc surrounded by 40,000 enemy soldiers. In knowing Christ, I easily came to accept death, especially when helping others live. When I was a teacher, I taught my students I would die for my students trying to protect them from an intruder/terrorist. I had a good life, I taught them I would die trying to protect them that they could have come to have the same as I have. I would die protecting them to allow them time to know our Lord and Savior, and never ever renounce Jesus as their Savior.
One Glorious man, a man we call Jesus had an extraordinary unselfish mission of selflessness, that mission was mankind's redemption. God and Jesus made us, supplies our every need including showing us how to live and redeeming us, buying us back from the sins to which we sell ourselves. Jesus could have evaded His death. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He could have left through the back gate, He could have skipped town, He could have avoided the Will of God. On the cross through His own power, He could have destroyed those heckling him, spoke the words and in a moment under His own power, He could have come down from the cross and set up an earthly power beyond anything known to mankind.
Where is your faith, your relationship with God? Is it faith, a relationship that you would live and die for? I certainly hope so! Life is much more intense when you have something greater than yourself to live for but especial when you have something to die for (*1).
We have much to live for, because Jesus had something to die for AND "Because He Lives" we do have so much more to die for.
© lonnie coggins
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Dying for a fellow soldier comes in times of war, but in those same times for me, I also found so much more to live for. Faith became so much more real in the realization I could really die in trying to save others.
Epilogue
As for the movie and Eli, he completes his mission to the end. As he felt, the mission was completed. When he arrived at his destination, he knew the people he found were the people he was looking for. But, upon arrival, the movie gives you a twist you will not believe..... and I will not tell you. In faith you will have to trust me you will like the twist. I will tell you this, the book..... it was the Bible. All the people along the way that died trying to get "the book" just knew a power was in the words "written" there.
There is a wonderful twist in the final scenes I doubt you will will guess.
Netflix-
http://www.netflix.com/Search?v1=The+book+of+eli
Amazon has it for sale.
Official Trailer: Turn your volume up, in the fight scene close your eyes as you like. The fight scenes enhances the importance of his mission.
A writing on how I came to know what was really important to die for.
First published in 2010.
© Lonnie Coggins
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Lead in posting:
Lead in posting:
LIFE IS MUCH MORE INTENSE in its living when in that living
you have something to die for. Life was
very intense while resupplying 300 soldiers surrounded by 40,000 bad guys when
serving in Vietnam. But, in coming to
terms that I could die, I found much so more to live for. Click below for more. Please share the message on your Fb page as you like, and if you like, click the FB 'Follow' button to have notifications of these publications. For other messages like this, visit my FB page, or on FB visit-"A Daily Thought Group".
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