Dave's Diary

Prayer

Before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 119:10-11

Lord, I seek you with all my heart. I long to stay on the path of Your commands
Help me to hide your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Amen.

Reading

Matthew 5:1-12

In verses 1-10 of this passage, Jesus pronounces a series of blessing, which we know as the “Beatitudes” (the Latin for “blessedness”). They are a series of statements describing the life-attitude and general life-orientation of a faithful disciple.

Faithful disciples bring their sorrow to the Lord in honesty, they are humble (“poor in spirit”), gentle, hungry for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart and they strive for peace. This is the orientation of their lives, and Jesus pronounces blessing on faithful discipleship like this.

However, the “command” we need to focus on today is this:

¹¹ ‘Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. ¹² Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (v.11-12)

Jesus is brutally honest about that fact that when disciples follow Jesus closely, our association with Him may lead to us being rejected and even persecuted by those who oppose Jesus and His teachings. And when this happens, He instructs us to rejoice!

An athlete rejoices in the exhaustion they feel after a hard training session, because they know the benefits their hard work and temporary pain will produce in the future. Likewise, Jesus suggests, a disciple ought to rejoice when we are persecuted or opposed for our faithful friendship with King Jesus, because we know the heavenly reward that awaits us in future.

One Biblical example of disciples rejoicing in the face of persecution is Acts 5:41, where the apostles were flogged by the Sanhedrin in the earliest days of their ministry in Jerusalem. We are told:

⁴¹ The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. 

We are not commanded to seek out suffering or persecution. But when our faithful discipleship attracts it, Jesus instructs us to lift our eyes to the joy set before us and rejoice in the knowledge that the heavenly reward for our faithfulness is great indeed! And remember what was mentioned in one of our introductory weeks – there is no greater “joy set before us” than seeing the Lord’s delight in our faithfulness. We rejoice in knowing that our faithfulness, even in persecution, brings Jesus great joy.

Contemplation

Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn one or more of these declarations of commitment over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.

As a disciple:

• I will aim to bring Jesus joy by staying faithful to Him.
• I will approach any persecution or hardship that comes my way as an opportunity to bring Jesus great joy through my faithfulness.
• I will fix my eyes on Jesus and rejoice to bring Him joy!

Do you anticipate being opposed because of your faithfulness to Jesus today? Ask the Holy Spirit to empower you to fix your eyes on Jesus and pursue His joy!