After Stephen had delivered his message about the Messiah, the jewish elders were so enraged with him that they gnashed their teeth at him and then grabbed him and took him outside of the city walls where they stoned him to death.
Now I find it so hard to grasp how brave Stephen was, that as he was dying, he called on the LORD to forgive those who were doing this to him.
I question my faith when I read things like this. How would I react in this situation?
Stephen must have been in dreadful pain and yet, although dying, he knelt down and asked the LORD not to hold this against these people.
This is such faith and such kindness and such grace in the face of such harshness.
I like the way Luke ends this off by saying that Stephen fell asleep.
And I would like to think that that is what the LORD did. I would hope that he just fell asleep and died.
But the reality is he must have been in intense pain and suffering, just as our LORD was on that Cross of Calvary and when He had been scourged and slapped around and beaten.
It brings me back to the start. I wonder whether I would be this magnanimous in the face of imminent death at the hands of unbelievers. I pray I would have a tenth of the courage of Stephen.
Prayer: ABBA FATHER, I thank YOU for Jesus who died for me and for people like Stephen who were willing to die for their faith in Jesus. FATHER it is sometimes so hard to forgive the smallest slight, Father grant me the mercy to forgive as I am forgiven by YOU. I pray this in the Holy Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Stay forgivingly Jesus Blessed today!
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