“That is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye ire my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:12-14). With these words Jesus was teaching His disciples the way of life which must be theirs. He was also telling them how great His love was for them, and what He would soon do for them; that He would literally lay down His life so that they might have life. Some of these disciples were called upon to do the same for our Lord, to literally lay down their lives in martyrdom. All, however, were called upon to symbolically lay down their lives, to give up family, friends, and all the old familiar ways, in order to go forth and teach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God to all people. The apostle Paul was called by Jesus at a later time to do the same thing. In fact, Paul gave up his way of life and was also martyred for the sake of the Truth.
This is the sacrifice that God asked of His only Son, to give His life Many times in the past God has asked this sacrifice Looking back to Noah, we can realize that he really did more than build the ark and gather his family and the animals into it He had to spend many years building the ark, and had to take the insults, jeers and wondering comments from friends and enemies over the strange behavior that he was exhibiting His faith in God must have been as strong during that period of his life as it was during the month which ho spent in the ark He is called a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2 5) We know that he made many attempts to tell the people about God and to win them to more righteous ways, but all to no avail.
The call of Abraham
When God called Abraham out of the idol worshipping community of which he was undoubtedly a respected member, Abraham must have made attempts to win others to the faith of which he was so certain He would most likely do this before starting on the long, hazardous journey into strange lands where he would worship God in an entirely different way than the manner to which he had been accustomed Apparently, none listened to him either.
For Lot it may not have been quite as difficult, for he had Abraham as an example However, when he left Sodom for the last time, it must have been with a saddened heart, for he had seen much evil and was leaving his daughters behind They had chosen the way of the world Even his wife was not faithful, for she looked back with regret to the life that she was leaving There are many such examples set forth for our learning Moses, Isaac, Joseph, David, the prophets, all obeyed God and devoted their lives to Him He was their Friend
This, perhaps, is the lesson Jesus was trying to teach the disciples, and is endeavoring to teaeh us throughout the days that remain until His coming We must lay down our lives for our friends Our greatest friend is Jesus, but we must do what He commands us Our other friends are not all known to us They are known to God and to Jesus, and we are told to preach to them throughout the world All persons are not called to martyrdom This is not the only way in which we lay down lives To obey this commandment we must put God and His Son foremost in our lives We must at all times be ready to do His will We must present our bodies as a living sacrifice by crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts.
For some it will mean le wing their homes and going to far places, while for others it simply means staying at home and attending to our Father’s vineyard by speaking of Him, teaching about the kingdom, and seeking out those people who may be called We must not forget that Jesus said that ‘many are called, but few are chosen,” nor must we forget that He also said “judge not’ God will call and choose those people who will share His kingdom in the glorious age to soon come We can but speak to people whenever possible, in order to reach those whom He has called This may be the neighbor next door, the person who works at the next desk, the Janitor in the building where we work, or it may be someone we reach through correspondence There are many ways in which we can do God’s work, and many ways in which we can put aside the things of this world We must ignore desires which seem natural and normal to us, care little for the luxuries of the world today, and give our heart, and minds hopefully and prayerfully to the plan and purpose of God, so that we, too, might some day be found worthy of securing a place in His kingdom
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One