Daily Devotion
The Inevitability of Persecution
Today's Bible Passage
Because of the nature of things, persecution must have been a much more daunting experience for Gentiles than it was for Jews. The average Gentile had little experience in it but the Jews have always been the most persecuted people on earth. Peter was writing to Christians who were Gentiles and he had to try to help them by showing them persecution in its true terms. It is never easy to be a Christian. Christian life brings loneliness, unpopularity, problems, sacrifices, and persecutions. It is well to have certain great principles in our minds.
It is Peter’s view that persecution is a test in a double sense. A person’s devotion to a principle can be measured by his willingness to suffer for it; therefore, any kind of persecution is a test of that person’s faith. But it is equally true that it is only the true Christian who will be persecuted. Persecution is a sharing in the sufferings of Jesus. When Christians have to suffer for their Christianity, they are walking in the way their Master walked and sharing the Cross their Master carried. “If we suffer with Him, we will be glorified with Him” (Romans 8:17). Paul desires to enter into the fellowship of the sufferings of Jesus (Philippians 3:10). If we suffer with him, we shall reign with him (2 Timothy 2:12).
Life Application
Anything you must suffer for the sake of Jesus becomes a privilege and not a penalty.
Praise and Prayer
“Hallelujah! Persecution is the way to glory. The Cross is the way to the crown and Jesus is no person’s debtor. His joy and crown await the person who, through thick and thin, remains true to Him! Father, I desire this for myself and other Christians all over the world! Amen
