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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2004
BLESSED REJECTION
“Blessed are you when they revile you, and persecute you, and say all kinds
of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets who
were before you.”
Matt. 5:11,12(NKJV)
Rejection. Nobody likes the way it feels. Unfair treatment. How that makes
us seethe! False accusations. Is anything more frustrating or infuriating
than being falsely accused?
Yet these were the things that Jesus endured. And those thingslay
ahead for His Apostles. They would be maligned. Their words would be
twisted. Their character assaulted. They would pay such a heavy toll. And
for what? Telling the truth! Sharing the gospel!
Jesus let them know that they would not be the first to suffer such
indignities. So did Moses. So did Elijah. So did Jeremiah. So did John the
Baptist. The unregenerate world has seldom treated those representing God
and truth with any dignity or respect. The Apostles were not the first to
suffer for the cause. Nor were they the last. The pages of church history
are red with the blood of martyrs. They are also replete with the stories of
men and women who suffered imprisonment, rejection, ridicule, abandonment,
and every form of opposition imaginable.
So, if I suffer a little for my faith, if it costs me a friend or two, or
puts me in a place of ridicule or harsh criticism, then I am in good
company. Let me gladly bear the brunt of rejection for my Lord. He bore so
much more for me.
A Prayer For Today: “Heavenly Father, I pray for the grace to bear whatever
must be borne for Your sake. Give me a martyr’s spirit, but not a martyr’s
complex. Let me not feel sorry for myself, Lord. Help me to live for You
with gladness and thanksgiving. Amen.”
