Saturday, October 25, 2008

Blessed are the Prosecuted?

"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5:10 NIV)

Oops, it's persecuted not prosecuted. Persecution is bad in human eyes, until we see through our blood colored glasses. As Christ followers, we will face tests and trials of our integrity, principles, and "moral compass." We will be the brunt of so many jokes; we will be the focus of so much scrutiny; we will be tested against a perfection that we know cannot be attained. Our persecution will be painful, unwarranted (in our eyes), and mostly unpleasent. But we must perservere. We must see our circumstances as single frames in an epic movie that is the chronicle of our lives. We must look at the big picture; we could be persecuted as a strengthening of our resolve for Christ; we could be persecuted because of the example we set; we could be persecuted over the fact that we are different from another person.

Fear not because when we look at the latter half of this verse, we see something Jesus has said before. This was probably said twice because He wanted to ensure us that when we follow Him and bear our cross daily, our reward lies in heaven, not on earth. Persecution as Christ followers is not fun or enjoyable, unless we see it "Through This Lense."

In deep thought,
Jesus Freak Out!

No comments: