Foxe’s Book of Martyrs

This is a great book that reminds me of what other Christians had to give up for Jesus. They often had to give up their lives and family all because they believed in Jesus Christ and were not willing to give him up. 

The biggest thing that this book taught me was that I must be willing to give up my life for Jesus. All of these people died because they would not renounce Jesus. We can see that for thousands of years, people have believed in Jesus and have been willing to die for Him. They knew that God was real and that no matter the cost, they would not stop serving Jesus. They were willing to give up everything rather than denounce Christ. I may not have to die, but I should be ready to give up everything to serve Jesus. I should not worry about my possessions or the things here on earth. 

Another thing that I learned from this book was that many times persecution would help the church. Many times the man or woman that was killed in this book served as an example to others. Many of the people seeing this saw these men and women’s faithfulness and began to ask questions about the Bible. Many of them wondered how the Christians could have such peace dying. As a result of many of the Christians’ deaths, there were dozens of converts, and God used this time to grow the church and save people. 

Although I am not planning on getting killed on the mission field, I know that there will come a time of persecution. There will be trials and struggles in the ministry, and I must remember that God uses these to strengthen the church and build the body of Christ. I should not be out looking to be persecuted, but if it does happen then, I should rejoice, knowing that God will use it to build the body. 

This post is a part of my book review series. If you would like to read my post on the importance of reading, you can click here.