Chapter 1 A Consecrated Life - Far Eastern Bible College

The reason why Basanio succeeded where the others had failed, is that
he alone was willing to hazard or risk everything he had for the one he
loved. The message of this illustration for us is: Are we willing to
hazard all that we have for Christ? Are we willing to go to the very limit
or our lives, in our consecration?
The Apostle Paul definitely was. After sailing by Ephesus on his
way back to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, Paul
came to Miletus and called the elders of the church at Ephesus to come
for a meeting with him. In Acts 20:22–24, he tells the elders of Ephesus,
And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not
knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the
Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and
afflictions abide me. But none of these things move me,
neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish
my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of
the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
After he left them, he sailed to Palestine and came to the coastal
city of Caesarea, which is just a few miles from Jerusalem. Here a
Christian prophet named Agabus met him. Acts 21:11–13 says,
And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and
bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy
Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that
owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the
Gentiles. And when we heard these things, both we, and they
of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then
Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine
heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at
Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul then left for Jerusalem, and there he did not die, but he was
arrested and later taken to Rome for trial. Later on, after he was
sentenced to be executed, he wrote these words to Timothy, still
expressing the same willingness to sacrifice his own life for the sake of
Christ. In 2 Timothy 4:6–8, he wrote:
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure
is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my
Willing to Die for Christ
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