"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.
Mark 10:29-30
Mark 10:29-30
Have you ever considered a bowling pin? Its whole existence, its purpose, is to be hit and knocked down. It got me thinking about the Christian walk.
There is no promise in the bible that being a follower of Jesus means an easy ride, in fact the reality is quite the opposite. We will experience hard times despite our faith. Jesus leaves us in this dark world with a purpose, but although we are not of the world, we are in it and will experience pain, loss and suffering. God will give us the courage, strength and endurance to get through it.
Even more challenging is the promise from Jesus that we will experience persecution because of our faith. Many followers around the world experience life threatening persecution as a very real probability. I have to admit that I don’t fall into that category. The reality however, is that Jesus has left me here in the world as well, with the purpose of engaging the darkness. If we are truly engaging the darkness – striving against injustice and suffering, facing down that which destroys, bringing God’s love and representing God’s heart – then we must expect at least some friction.
I am not suggesting that we should seek out persecution or martyrdom or focus on our own suffering as that would be perverse and we see too much of that in our world. But I think we should ask ourselves, “are we too comfortable?” Like a bowling pin, if we are in the game – in active conflict with evil, then we should expect to feel it, and if we don’t we have to ask “are we in the game?”
Remember, however, that the pin is always getting back up. Though we might get knocked down, we will not be destroyed, though we face persecution we will not be abandoned (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
There is no promise in the bible that being a follower of Jesus means an easy ride, in fact the reality is quite the opposite. We will experience hard times despite our faith. Jesus leaves us in this dark world with a purpose, but although we are not of the world, we are in it and will experience pain, loss and suffering. God will give us the courage, strength and endurance to get through it.
Even more challenging is the promise from Jesus that we will experience persecution because of our faith. Many followers around the world experience life threatening persecution as a very real probability. I have to admit that I don’t fall into that category. The reality however, is that Jesus has left me here in the world as well, with the purpose of engaging the darkness. If we are truly engaging the darkness – striving against injustice and suffering, facing down that which destroys, bringing God’s love and representing God’s heart – then we must expect at least some friction.
I am not suggesting that we should seek out persecution or martyrdom or focus on our own suffering as that would be perverse and we see too much of that in our world. But I think we should ask ourselves, “are we too comfortable?” Like a bowling pin, if we are in the game – in active conflict with evil, then we should expect to feel it, and if we don’t we have to ask “are we in the game?”
Remember, however, that the pin is always getting back up. Though we might get knocked down, we will not be destroyed, though we face persecution we will not be abandoned (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).
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