Acts 1:8

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Acts 1:22 (Just the last sentence…)

“For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

It is an interesting choice of words that are being used in these two scriptures. You might have noticed that I have underlined a certain word that these two scriptures have in common too. The singular and the plural forms of the word “witness”. Both words are the same and yet there is a meaning below the surface that I think is in need of addressing. Why? Because what is deeper can change how we view these words in the context of these scriptures.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus says you will be witnesses. Why is that so interesting? Maybe because the word witness in the Greek is “martus”. Martus is the root word for our word martyr. Sound familiar now? Yes, it also means to record or to have seen…but a coincidence that Christ uses that word? I doubt it. Martin Luther once said, “Only men speak of chance…the Bible never does.”

Jesus knows the road you’re traveling on. He knows what is going to happen down your road. He isn’t surprised. He knows the cost. He has already paid it. In His last words to His very own friends, he doesn’t spare them cost of following. Rather He openly admits the road is dangerous. It isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s going to cost something to be a follower of Christ. It’s going to cost something as God breathes over you and your life. The cost is death…and yet life more abundantly.

Mark 8:34-35

(34) Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. (35)For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.

Following Jesus is going to cost you everything…because nothing can be more important than Him. The sooner you realize that the closer you are to a freedom, love, and happiness you’ve never known.