The Demands Of Faith

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Philippians 4:13

A number of years ago I spent Christmas Eve on the battlefields of Korea. It was a beautiful evening; a half moon was in the sky; snow was several inches deep. Picking our way along in a small helicopter, we finally landed at a base hospital right behind the front lines. We could see the glow of the artillery over the side of the mountain.

In the hospital were several men who had just been carried back from their patrol post. One casualty, an ex-football player from one of our Southern universities, was a battle-hardened marine. His doctor whispered to me, “Part of his spine has been shot out, and he’ll never walk again.”

Because of his injury he was forced to lie face downward. He said, “Mr. Graham, we have been looking forward to your coming, and I’d like to see your face.”

I got on my back on the floor and looked up into the face of that tough marine.

“I know that I’m in bad shape,” he said, “but I want you to tell people when you get back to America that I’d gladly die for my country.”

Would you give the same dedication to Jesus Christ? He gave no less for you, and He demands no less from you.

Our Father and our God, I know I am in the middle of spiritual warfare every day. Give me the courage to say I will gladly die to stand for You! Perhaps I shall have to die physically, socially, financially, or in some other way, but help me to hold the banner of Christ high in my life, no matter what comes. In His name. Amen.

Billy Graham, Unto the Hills: A Daily Devotional (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010).