Devotion:
Read Matthew 5:10-12.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted…” Notice this beatitude does not stop there. This is not about persecution in general. Sometimes people complain about how they are persecuted when much of what is happening to them they have brought on themselves because they mistreated others and are simply receiving back what they have given. No, Jesus is specific here: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness…” They are being persecuted for trying to do what is right. Jesus expands on that in the next verse: “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” This is the persecution that comes when you are trying to follow the way of Christ; when you protest on behalf of the least and the last among us; when you speak truth to those in power; when you forgive those nobody else wants to forgive, welcome those who nobody else wants to welcome, love those who nobody else wants to love.
Jesus says these people are stakeholders in the kingdom of heaven. They are God’s people. They are living God’s kingdom “....here on earth as it is in heaven.” He reminds us about those prophets of the Old Testament, the ones who we quote and revere - they were also persecuted by the people of their time. And though that all sounds like bad news, Jesus says just the opposite: “Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven….” For God’s people, our joy is often not in the way things are now, but knowing how they will be in God’s future. Rejoice and be glad!
Personal Worship Option:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.”
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