"Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves. But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me. When you are arrested, don't worry about how to respond or what to say. God will give you the right words at the right time. For it is not you who will be speaking- it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. A brother will betray his brother to death, a father will betray his own child, and children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be killed. And all nations will hate you because you are my followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one town, flee to the next. I tell you the truth, the Son of Man will return before you have reached all the towns of Israel." -Jesus Matthew 10:16-23
If Jesus would have been in my college speech class I'm pretty sure He would have just gotten a big fat F on his persuasive speech. He has just called his 12 apostles together and is about to send them out and these are His words to them. You will be sheep among wolves. You will be flogged with whips. You will stand trial before governors and kings. You will be betrayed by family. You will be hated by all nations. None of these things sound like the nice easy Christianity that for some reason we feel like we deserve. The crazy thing to me about all of this is that the apostles all still went. They had seen something in Him that they knew was worth following. They counted the cost and knew that Jesus was worth more.
I don't know where we have gotten the idea that as Christians we should be free from suffering or persecution because God loves us. Jesus called His apostles whom He loved to walk straight into the suffering and to trust that He would provide them with the words to say in times of trial. He called them to walk straight into the fire and see those moments as a time of opportunity to share His great name.
He says later in chapter 10 "Don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell." When I think about some of the things that I want to do in my life I have to remember this verse and other verses where He reminds me, "Don't be afraid. Just believe." At some point in my life I want to move into a neighborhood or apartment complex that most people wouldn't exactly call "safe" and show those around me the love of our Jesus. At some point in my life I want to live in a hut in Africa. At some point in my life I want to take care of little children who don't have a mom or a dad that love them. I love this quote by John Keith Falconer, "I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light." I want to go somewhere where the people have never heard the Good News and trust that my God is the only one I am to fear.
He is so mighty to save! I'm thankful that we serve a God who didn't sugar coat what this earth is going to be like. Although in this world there might be pain and trials I know that I can take heart because my Jesus overcame the world. May we choose to let our candles burn brightly where we are at today! May our lives be a beacon pointing others to our Awesome God!
No comments:
Post a Comment