Posted on 03/17/2022 3:15:11 PM PDT by metmom
“‘Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’” (Matthew 5:10).
Our Lord made it clear from His earliest teaching that following Him was costly. Those who entered His kingdom would suffer for Him before they would reign with Him.
The cost of discipleship is billed to our account in many different ways. A believer today might be expected to hedge on the quality of his work to increase company profits. To follow one’s conscience in obedience to the Lord might cost him his job or at least a promotion. A Christian housewife who refuses to listen to gossip or to laugh at the crude jokes of her neighbors may find herself ostracized. Some costs will be great and some will be slight. But by the Lord’s and the apostles’ repeated promises, faithfulness always has a cost, which true Christians are willing to pay.
In the early days of the church, the price paid was often the ultimate. To choose Christ might mean choosing death by stoning. To choose Christ could mean torture by any number of excessively cruel and painful methods. That was the very thing Christ had in mind when He identified His followers as those willing to bear their crosses. That is His call to be ready to die, if need be, for the cause of the Lord (Matt. 10:35–39; 16:24–25).
Are you willing to pay that cost?
Ask Yourself
What are our usual reasons for not being willing to pay the cost of discipleship? Fear? Reputation? A stronger desire to be liked than to be lumped together with Christ’s followers? Ask yourself, “What makes me more strongly attached to these excuses than to bearing the name of my Lord?”
From Daily Readings from the Life of Christ, Vol. 1, John MacArthur. Copyright © 2008. Used by permission of Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL 60610, www.moodypublishers.com.
Studying God’s Word ping
Being shunned by family for your stance on homosexuality.
They think ‘love’ is love and ‘god’ (their invented version of him) will give a free pass.
Jesus wasn’t lying when he said families would be 2 against 3 and 3 against 2.
Ever since the first time I read the Book of Revelation, I figured I would be martyred.
Still processing that in my mind.
And in the light of current events, it seems more possible.
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