I’ll be honest…I don’t like Edwards’ 10th resolution. It says…

Resolved, when I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom, and of hell.

The reason I don’t like this resolution is not because I think it’s wrong or silly but because of how uncomfortable it is. I know that there are men and women throughout history who have suffered brutal deaths because of the cause of Christ. I also firmly believe that hell is real and that it is the final destination of those who reject the good news of Jesus Christ in this life. I don’t like to focus on this stuff though. I would rather be positive and stay on the bright side so to speak.

Edwards lived a very productive life and certainly could not be accused of being some dead-end doom and gloom preacher. If you want uncommon results I suppose you have to be willing to take uncommon measures. What good though, could possibly come from thinking about the pains of martyrdom and hell? How could someone even begin to envision such pains? The only thing I can imagine is that thinking this way helps us to realize what Christ paid such a high price for. He died so that we would never go to eternal darkness and that even if we die horribly here on earth, we know that our eternal resting place will be amazing. From such a man as Edwards I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and think about this difficult resolution with an open mind. How about you?