Do the Right Thing

“I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.” 

Lamentations 3:19–21 

The early Christians took Jesus’s title as Lord very seriously. When Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, was arrested for refusing to bow and call Caesar “lord,” city officials asked him to recant and reproach Christ. “Polycarp,” they reasoned, “what harm could it do to say Caesar is lord and save your life?”  

But Polycarp replied, “Eighty and six years I have served Him, and He never did me any injury; how then can I blaspheme my King and my Savior.”¹ And so, Polycarp went bravely to his death—a slave of Christ, but more free than any Roman citizen watching him burn at the stake.  

Today, how is your faith being put to the test? Where are you tempted to bend the rules, step over the line, or shade the truth? Remember that you have a Lord who deserves every bit of your love and loyalty. Do the right thing for your King. 

Jesus, I may not be facing martyrdom for my loyalty to You, but I know I need to think seriously about what it means to call You Lord of my life. Forgive me for the “little” compromises that come so easily. Forgive me for being hesitant or embarrassed to boldly own Your name in public. You are Lord, and I want to live that truth as well as speak it.