Blessed are the persecuted…

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

— Matthew 5:10

Now the rubber meets the road. Persecuted? We live in an age where fast, assessable ‘news’ and posted opinions make public persecution not just familiar, but often fierce.

Freedom of speech, fellow Americans, is not bad in and of itself. When it turns to bite us, well, now, that’s a different story.

You have not made it through life without a raw time. I am not talking about just a bad week; I am talking about the blowout where your raw self hits the hard road. Ka-splat. Nothing in the moment is good. It all hurts.

In the tragic moment, you do move—albeit slowly. What to make for dinner? Ha. That no longer matters. It’s just food. And you can change the sheets on your bed another day.

Think about those nearly parallelizing times, when, for example, it takes concentration to stir cream into your coffee, or, for a split second, you actually have to replay how to start the dishwasher you’ve had for over six years.

What’s there? What keeps you moving from Point A to Point B is what is most important to you. Is it love? Is it hope? Here in Matthew 5:10, which ends His list of the Beatitudes, Christ is saying He is most important. He is love. He is hope. Do what is right in Him. Do what is right for Him.

We can spend too much energy in the mundane, the trivial, and the really silly stuff. Reheat something in the fridge for a meal, or there’s a can of something in the pantry to open, and the fresh sheets can wait until…. But what do you stand for? How do you move? Why do you move? Now, that’s important.

Stand for Jesus. Live for Jesus. Do for Jesus. That is what He is saying here. If you’re gonna get hit—and you are—get hit for what’s important. Jesus Christ.

Dear Lord,

I don’t want to be persecuted. Really, Easy Street IS a nice road to travel. But I know sometimes Easy Street ends, and then, in the hard times, what I do and what I say matters not just to me and to those I love; it matters to the world You came to save. I realize in all of this that I live for You. I stand with You. I love you. I will say it again and again—no matter what comes or what hurts me—oh yes, I love you.

Amen.