How committed?
Jesus said,
"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.
But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him 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.'
"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Matthew 10:32-39.
Living here in North America we often forget we have incredible freedoms to worship and follow whoever we wish.
North American Christians for the most part are not generally thrown out of their home or disowned by their family for following Jesus. Sadly this is not true for many Christians around the world.
For many Christians around the world turning to Christ means being rejected by family and friends. It means having their house destroyed. It means having to move away from their home town or village. It means being subject to violence while the authorities look the other way. It can also mean going to jail or even being put to death.
All of this must be taken into consideration by many would be converts in many parts of the world.
So my question to those in North America is how much do you love God? How much would you be willing to give up to follow Christ?
It’s easy in the good times to follow Christ. It’s a whole other story when times are bad. Thus I would ask this question to believers in not only North America but in all the western democracies where they have freedom to worship as they wish; how committed are you to Christ Jesus?
Please think about it.
Post Script.
Interestingly as I was writing this a prayer alert came to my phone asking for pray for members of a house church in an Asian country. They had been attacked while worshipping. Some having to be taken to hospital because of their injuries. Authorities are looking into the matter.
Please take some time to pray for the persecuted church around the world.
Pray also that their persecutors will come to know Christ.
