The moment we decide that we want to live our life 100% sold out for Jesus Christ, we feel excited for the adventure to come. We envision ourselves receiving blessing upon blessing in our family and our relationships. We see God using us to change the world. We dream of all of the amazing things that God will use us to do in this world for his glory. We assume that those people who are close to us will be happy about the decision we have made to change for the better.
We don't think much about persecution. We don't consider being hated by those people who used to be close to us. We still have no idea about the trials and tribulations that are to come in order to strengthen us as a believer and rid us of superficial faith. In order to become deeply rooted followers of Christ, we will have to say "NO!" to some pretty heavy temptation. We will have to say "Yes Lord!" to some pretty crazy ideas. We will have to sit still and trust him when we feel like taking over and handling the situation on our own. We will have to cling to the encouragement found in scripture when people closest to us say hurtful things in an attempt to bring us back to our former way of life.
When we read that we are the light of the world, we imagine people looking at us thinking, "Oh wow, look at that beautiful and glorious light!" The truth is, light is not always an admirable thing. Many people's eyes are so accustomed to darkness that our light is blinding to them and it hurts. They want nothing to do with it because it exposes something inside of them that they would rather keep hidden. The minute they see our light they either squeeze their eyes tightly and turn away from it, or they reach for their sunglasses to tone it down a bit.
Perplexed, we contemplate in our own mind as to what is causing this negative reaction to the newfound life, hope and purpose that we are so ecstatic about. How can something so wonderful be hated so passionately? This was not the reaction that we had hoped for. This is not how it played out in our imagination. There is now a noticeable friction between ourselves and the world in which we live. The world is no longer comfortable with us and we are no longer comfortable with the ways of the world which are our former ways of life.
Many new Christians get to this point and they have a decision to make. It is a fork in the road which God places in front of us. It has a sign with one arrow pointing one way saying "The World" and the other arrow pointing the other way saying "Jesus Christ." Sadly, not even realizing that this is what is happening, many new Christians decide to take the path of the world, because they believe that the resistance and rejection they are experiencing is too much for them. They would rather please their childhood friends and family members than God. They don't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable so they switch their light switch to "OFF."
Now they fit in again. Now their friends feel comfortable around them again. Everyone else is happy again, so they should be too right? The problem is, this Christian who decided to go back to their former ways of life is now feeling empty inside again. They have removed God from the throne of their heart and replaced him with something or someone else. Maybe it's a party lifestyle, a boyfriend or girlfriend, money, success, drugs, pornography or workaholism. The problem is that none of the replacements for God will ever satisfy the way that God satisfied. They never love us back the way that God loves us back. Now we are ashamed of our choice, but so deep into it that we would rather keep trying to make it work than admit that we need to go back to our true love, our true peace, our true fulfillment.
Meanwhile, all of the broken and hurting people who desperately needed to see our light can't find any light. There are divine appointments that God sets up for us where he will use us to influence the lives of others in a very powerful and life changing way. So the problem is, we not only chose the world over God, but we chose the ways of this world over the lives that we were meant to impact for his glory. There were those who desperately wanted to hear what we had to say, but we allowed ourselves to be silenced by those who didn't want to hear what we had to say.
Friends, we must make a choice. Are we in this thing or not? If we are truly in this "living for Christ" thing, here are some words from Jesus himself that should be considered...
"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." -Matthew 5:10-16
"You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."-Matthew 10:22
"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care.[a] And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.
“Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
“‘a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[b]
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—
a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’[b]
“Anyone
who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me;
anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever
welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and
whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a
righteous person’s reward. And
if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones
who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not
lose their reward.” -Matthew 10:28-42We want to be like him right? He suffered. He chose rejection and betrayal in this world to receive acceptance and love in the world to come. Everything we do and think is different when we have our mind set on eternity and not on the temporary trappings of this world. Be a light, even when it hurts. One day, all will acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. The reward is great for those who choose to acknowledge it now.
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