Not all rosy
Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you, And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, For in like manner their fathers did to the prophets (Luke.6.22-23).
The Believer’s commitment and fellowship with the Lord will not be frictionless. It will not be without challenges. It will come with hatred, exclusion and bad mouthing just because he is associated with Jesus. The world sometimes portray the believers as the problem. They say, “we like Jesus but the people worshipping him are not like him.” It is a lie. If they love Jesus, they will love his people. They neither love him, his principles nor his followers.
However, Jesus is aware of the situation the believer finds himself. He is concerned about the persecution and maltreatment, hence he promised to reward his followers. But before the reward, he asked that we stay joyful. Also, he gave history of how the prophets in time past were hated. Nothing has changed but you can be happy through it all, knowing that there is something to look forward to – reward.
At a point in the ministry of Christ, one of his disciples, Peter asked him what their reward was, since they left everything to follow him. Jesus told him they will have 100 fold of whatever they left to follow him and also eternal life. How then do you keep focus amidst the challenges and persecutions?
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb. 12:2).
Learn from Jesus to stay focus for the reward awaiting you in heaven.