June 4, 2022 - On June 4, 1989, a man stood up to power, and made a difference. In Beijing, China, since April of that year, students had been gathering in Tiananmen Square, to protest the oppressive Chinese government. They marched for free speech. They demonstrated for democracy. They worked for change.
And on June 4, the government decided to bring an end to this movement. Soldiers and tanks entered Tiananmen Square, and before the day was over, hundreds of demonstrators had died. Communist leaders have tried to suppress the memory and history of that day. But one image has remained, the image of a single young man, standing in front of a column of tanks.
He stands there, holding two shopping bags, as if he was just passing on his way home from the grocery store. The tanks attempt to maneuver around him, and time and time again he moves to block them again. Some of our Daily Devotion readers weren’t even born when that occurred, but I wager that they have seen this image. Time Magazine called it one of the most iconic photos in history and named this man as one of the Most Influential People of the 20th Century.
But we don’t know his name. And we don’t know what happened to him. But his legacy of courage lives on, just as it does with names like Noah and Esther and Daniel and Mary and Peter and Paul. People, like you and me, who stood up, who were courageous, who made a difference.
I Corinthians 16:13. Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, be strong.
Meet you back here on Monday,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
