Before I entered the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, I had to walk down a boulevard called "The Avenue of the Righteous Gentiles." It is lined with hundreds of trees planted in honor of people who sheltered or in other ways assisted Jews during the Nazi regime. At the base of each tree is a metal plaque bearing the name of a man, woman, or family who risked their lives to help Jews during the Holocaust. Some of the names are familiar, like Corrie ten Boom and Oscar Schindler. But most are not.

As I walked down this avenue of memorial, my thoughts went to Romans 16, where Paul said that Priscilla and Aquila had risked their lives for his sake. Then I thanked God for devoted believers in Jesus Christ down through the centuries who made tremendous sacrifices, some losing loved ones or their own lives, to meet the physical and spiritual needs of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Few of us face serious risks today. If we did, it's not likely that anyone would plant a tree in our honor. Even so, let's pray for a willingness and a desire to support sacrificially a struggling or suffering believer.  — David C. Egner