Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known. What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops. And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 10:26-31

The life we live is but a vapor.  The victory of this life is seeing the greater, seeing Beyond the temporal into the Eternal, and to see that, in Christ, we will never die.

As unbelief is a greater belief in the natural, physical life greater than in the spiritual, so the life we live is not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.  The life we live, as the apostle Paul wrote, we live by faith in the Son of God (Galatians 2:20).

To live this life in the service of this One is to be the servant of all.  To give one’s all in devotion to the King is to gain the only thing that matters.

But, whether those in this life receive you, or whether you are ever recognized in this life, it matters nothing.

Faithfulness is it’s own reward, for to the faithful, He will show Himself faithful (Psalm 18:25).

When we are rejected and scorned for Christ, and when we are cast out and afflicted, we are in Christ’s stead.  When we are hated and cast upon, we are treated poorly for His sake.

This life is a vapor, and while we must be stewards of it, when we lose it in the end, we have lost nothing of Eternal value.  Our life is hid in Christ, and that of all our loved ones.

But, when the end of the day comes, and we have given our all, live or die, our life is His.  This is the victory, the life in the Spirit.  This is the life we live, and the only reality we respond to.  We serve Christ, and Him alone.  And, in the power of the Holy Ghost, we always overcome, even through death.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

Psalm 116:15

Martyrdom is not some horrible end, for death is not our hope.  We look forward to the Eternal bliss and rest of being with our Savior, whether in the clouds in the New Heavens or with Him in the grass and trees of the New Earth.  For there is a time where it is blessed that those who die in the Lord do so, for they have rested from their labors.

The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.

Isaiah 57:1

Perhaps one way of looking at losing our earthly life is simply getting to go home from work early.  Only a half-day is needed today, son, you did a good job.

Oh, that we might truly live from an Eternal perspective.  That none are lost, so long as they are in Christ, and none are yours unless they do.  For, who are my mother and brethren?  Those that hear His words and do them.  This is the only fellowship, and this is the only rule.

For in the heavens, God has prepared a place for me.  In the depths of the Earth, my soul shall flee.  And I in raptured ecstasy, shall behold his glory steadily.

You see, we know that were your heart is your treasure is also.  But, we do not apply this the rest of the way.  When we see ourselves in fear over our loss, or our grief over losing someone or something else, and that affects our heart in a bad way, we have simply placed our heart in the wrong thing.  We do mourn, but we do no mourn as the world does, as those who have no hope!

But, while there is a short time until we may meet again, it is only an instant, only a vapor, and it’s gone.

What do we have to live for, or to show for our life?  What profit have we brought our King?  At the end of the day, what is it that really matters?

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1 Corinthians 3:12-14

It matters what we build on, for only some things will have a reward.

Surely, by church record, not one of the disciples was not martyred, other than John who they could not kill.  As the first seed fell, so many others came afterwards.  It is said that for a lie that one believes to be true, some men would die.  But, to die for a lie you know to be a lie, you would not find 12 such men in all of history.  These were the apostles, who saw Jesus die, wrote what they lived, and lived what He preached, and it cost every one of them their life.

But, I don’t think, looking back, a single one of them will regret even the slightest hardship they had then to endue.  Why?  Because, He is that precious.  And so is every willing, voluntary effort of love, sacrifice, and worship offered to our great King.