Salt beds | Photo by Samuel Scrimshaw on Unsplash
As a follower of Jesus, we will face persecution because of our faith and obedience to Jesus Christ. God’s Word tells us this in many places, but we want to believe that we will be exempt from not being accepted in the culture of today.
We see the very same thing in the Book of Acts and how the followers of Jesus faced overwhelming situations. The persecution did not come just from the world but from religious people. In Acts 8: 1 -4, “A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria. Some devout followers of Jesus came and buried Stephen with great mourning. But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.” We see that Saul, a religious man was on a mission to destroy these followers of Jesus. He was out to bring people back to the Jewish religion.
In Acts 8:4, we see the response of the followers of Jesus (and this is the response we need from followers of Jesus today). “But the believers who were scattered preached the Good News about Jesus wherever they went.”
Why did God allow the persecution? Because it caused the followers of Jesus to leave Jerusalem and go to the other villages and cities around Jerusalem. They would have stayed in Jerusalem and never gone on a mission. God had to move them to reach other people. Maybe God needs to move us out of our comfort zones to get us to be on His mission.
How did the early followers respond to the possibility of being persecuted and thrown in jail? They preached the Good News about Jesus. They did not hide in fear! They did not retreat! They did not go away! They continued to preach, witness, and share about Jesus Christ!
This is what the church needs to share today – JESUS! We need to lift the name of Jesus today! Let us not get sidetracked by talking about everything else that will not change anything, and let us talk about the ONE (JESUS) who can save us from our sins!
Today, let us pray that God will give us opportunities to share JESUS with someone that needs Him! Let’s continue to be the salt and the light in our world!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the Lead Senior Pastor of the International Christian Church (ICC) at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and significant emotional life experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is getting rave reviews. His daily devotional appears in this publication.
