"Their blood I will require at your hand"

A missionary was telling the story of visiting one of the rare churches allowed to exist in North Korea.  She spoke of snatching a brief unobserved moment with two Christian women and encouraging them, telling them that every morning the churches in the South were praying for them.  Tears ran down their faces as they embraced.  Then she described the "James Bond-like" feel of believers in China as they stealthily met for worship in the growing underground church.  They were informed that one of the worshipers had be caught and sent to prison.  But his message to the church was, "Do not pray for my release.  Already I have led several to Christ here, praise to his name!"  Having told us such stories, the missionary challenged the American church, "If Christians can witness under conditions like this in other parts of the world, why on earth do American Christians, who enjoy such freedom, so rarely share the faith?"

In Ezekiel, God said this to his prophet:  "If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give them no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from their wicked way, in order to save their life, those wicked persons shall die for their iniquity - but their blood I will require at your hand." (Ezekiel 3:18).

Let's make the most of every opportunity that God gives us to share the good news of salvation offered to the world through Christ Jesus!