(Acts 1 v 8)
Here is the start of it all.
The birth of the church, the beginning of the acts of the Holy Spirit.
And the promise is that we would be a witness
When the Holy Spirit comes
The word witness slips easily into our language when we think of sharing a story or a testimony.
But, there may be another angle.
Because the word for witness in this context is Martum
Which we know as Martyr.
Now, that is less comfortable unless we see what happened.
Men cowed with all sorts of fears and questions become transformed.
Bold in speech and no longer intimidated by threats
They continued, even to the point of death, still full of the Holy Spirit.
Later, another Apostle, himself a radical convert speaks of his own experience of dying, yet living
“It is no longer I that live” he said “but Christ that lives in me” (Galatians 2:20)
So what was it that made these early disciples into men and women who had never felt so alive
And yet were so dead to their own agendas
So...... consumed?
As I consider these things, I am left with an overwhelming thought.
It comes down to this:
The difference is the Holy Spirit.
I cannot truly live without him
And, I certainly cannot die without him either.