COME AND DIE

"Come and die..."

"When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die. It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him, or it may be a death like Luther's, who had to leave the  monastery and go out into the world. But it is the same death every time - death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at his call.
 Jesus' summons to the rich young man was calling him to die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ.
  In fact every command of Jesus is a call to die,  with all our affections and lusts.....Every day (we) encounter new temptations, and every day (we) must suffer anew for Jesus Christ's sake."
   Bonhoeffer, THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP - p99.

Bonhoeffer was on that road....death to his own freedoms, death to a hoped-for marriage, death to family times, death itself.  It was for him a gradual diminishing of everything around him...and a great amplifying of the presence of God in his life.

Actual death before 40 - at the hands of a firing squad.  Nazi mop-up operations at the end of a lost war.

BUT  today his writings and biographies are devoured by people hungry for a deep authenticity with Christ.  In extreme times he found the way.  In our comparatively "easy" times we can learn much from his life.

Good spiritual food for our souls this day.

The best biography: BONHOEFFER - Eric Metaxas - Thomas Nelson - 2010
Other important reads:  THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP - ETHICS - LETTERS AND PAPERS FROM PRISON - LIFE TOGETHER.....all in print and easily available in any comprehensive book store.

Selah.