Are we willing to suffer in serving the Lord? Are we willing
to be uncomfortable as servants to the Lord? Are we willing to push aside many
of the worldly comforts to be a servant to God? This can be a hard pill to
swallow. For it is basically acknowledges that if we are going to serve the
Lord, the road ahead is likely to get pretty bumpy. But as we see in verse 14,
we are still blessed even in our suffering: “But even if you should suffer for what is
right, you are blessed.” For when we are serving the Lord, we are doing
what is RIGHT. Period. And if we truly believe that our life on this
earth is just a blink of an eye, that our time in heaven is forever, and all
that really matters is serving the Lord, then we will welcome suffering in
order to serve the Lord. The suffering may come in various forms. We may be
required to sever some bad relationships, pass-up on lucrative opportunities, lose
some popularity, engage in some pretty depressing situations…and maybe, just
maybe we might even have to be bored every so often! But when we boil it all
down…we when get to the foundation of our existence, we see that we were made
to serve the Lord. Our goal in life is not to please each other, but rather to
please the Lord! We don’t have to be a Pastor, Priest, or some kind of
religious worker to serve the Lord. We can serve Him right where we stand…in
our jobs, in our families, in our marriages, and in our interactions with
complete strangers. What a privilege and honor! But as we work to serve the
Lord, we must be careful not to damage the Gospel with our often fumbled ways.
We must serve Him with care, welcoming His counsel in our interactions, as seen
in verse 15: “Always be prepared to give
an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you
have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” May we seek to serve the
Lord today, welcoming suffering if necessary, and giving glory to the One true
King! To God be the glory!
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