May Jesus Be Worth It To Us - Please Father, Make It So!

This story is told of a Christian named Paulus, tortured for his faith in Jesus:

It was getting late, and the Soviet officer had beaten and tortured Paulus for many hours.

"We are not going to torture you anymore," he said, smiling brutally when the Christian looked up. "We will send you instead to Siberia, where the snow never melts. It is a place of great suffering. You and your family will fit in well."

Paulus, instead of being depressed, smiled. "The whole earth belongs to my Father, Captain. Wherever you send me I will be on my Father's earth."

The captain looked at him sharply. "We will take away all you own."

"You will need a high ladder, Captain, for my treasures are stored up in heaven."

Paulus still wore a beautiful smile.

"We will put a bullet between your eyes," shouted the captain, now angry.

"If you take away my life in this world, my real life of joy and beauty will begin," answered Paulus. "I am not afraid of being killed."

The captain grabbed Paulus by his tattered prison shirt and screamed into his face, "We will not kill you! We will keep you locked alone in a cell and allow no one to come see you!"

"You cannot do that, Captain," said Paulus, still smiling. "I have a Friend who can pass through locked doors and iron bars. No one can separate me from the love of Christ."

The Voice Of The Martyrs, Extreme Devotion (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), Day 15.

HT: Christ . . . Altogether Lovely