DIRK WILLEMS: Between commonsense and obedience

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

In the sixteenth-century Netherlands, Dirk Willems had been labeled an “Anabaptist” during the rule of Spanish Catholics and imprisoned. Now he was running for his life.

He had escaped out the tiny window and lowered himself on a rope made of old rags. Landing on the frozen pond along the side of the prison wall, he stepped gingerly on the ice, wondering if he would fall through. But the months of starvation endured in prison now served him well. He barely weighed one hundred pounds. 

Before he reached the other side of the pond, a scream broke the night silence. “Halt immediately!” yelled the guard coming out the window Dirk had climbed through only moments ago. Dirk was too close to freedom. He kept going. 

The guard yelled again as he set foot on the ice. Quickly he began to chase after Dirk, but on his third step there was a crack. A splash followed as the guard fell through the ice. His screams changed to shrieks of cold and terror. “Help me, please! Help me!” 

Dirk paused, looking toward freedom. Then he turned and quickly made his way back to the prison pond. He lay on his stomach and stretched his arm to rescue the nearly frozen guard. In sarcastic gratitude, the guard grabbed Dirk and ordered him back to his cell. 

Despite his heroism, Dirk was burned at the stake for his faith.

Committed Christians don’t live according to common sense. They do the unthinkable with full knowledge of the consequences. They do the impossible as if it were commonplace. Believers live according to a higher calling. Their actions and reactions are so unnatural that they are often misunderstood. For some, Dirk’s extreme rescue seems an unnatural choice. Even, perhaps, a bit foolish. Dirk, however, believed he was simply following the basics of the Bible. He put another’s needs above his own. When we make sacrifices, we may not always make sense to the world, but we know we are making progress from a heavenly perspective. Do you most often live according to common sense? Or are you committed to following God’s commands at any cost?