I recently read of a brother in Pakistan who was murdered for his faith. Fifty-year-old Mukhtar Barkat was warned to stop sharing Christ in his Muslim community. But Mukhtar believed it was worth the risk to keep sharing the good news with those who were lost. Early in the morning on January 5, 2004, this pastor was shot and killed. He left behind a wife and six children.
In the article I read, this sentence caught my eye: “Family and friends say he did not fear death.” That’s the way I want to live… “he did not fear death.”
But how does one live in such a way? Where does one receive such courage? What man or woman can overcome the natural fear of death? Jesus promises abundant life and then calls us to bold living. He knows the way of the cross is full of danger, so He admonishes, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” But how does one not fear what kills the body?
The man or woman who realizes what happened at the cross has great advantage. Jesus wants us to grasp what He has given us. “The most dangerous warrior is the one who does not fear death. I have called you to be dangerous warriors in the Kingdom of Light. The gates of Hell will not overcome you. Do not be afraid to obey Me. I took the sting from death and I have given the devil a death blow. Understand what happened at the cross and be free.”
“Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil – and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15