Wise Words With... 

It seems like the days fly by as the end of the year approaches, helped by the way Christmas items hit the shelves earlier and earlier! At school we have spent the year working through the Bible in our assemblies and devotions (both students and staff) and have seen the unfolding of God’s Biggest Story. We’ve seen how God, after creating a beautiful and perfect world which was quickly marred by human rebellion, has worked to rescue a people for Himself. We saw how in the Old Testament God worked through the people of Israel, and now we are up to the New Testament where we learn that God’s rescue is for people everywhere through the death and resurrection of Jesus. 

It was not just a coincidence, then, that this week we looked at the persecuted early church at the same time as Christians around the world participated in the International Day of Prayer for the persecuted church (1 November). In our assembly we saw in Acts 7 the first martyr of the church, a believer named Stephen, followed by an intense persecution which broke out in Jerusalem scattering the early church throughout the region. What was the effect? Were those persecutors successful in stopping the spread of Christianity? You probably know the answer - they weren’t! In fact Luke writes ‘those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went’. The effect was the opposite of what the persecutors had intended as the church spread out and grew across the Roman empire, and eventually out into the world.

I write this as an encouragement and a challenge. It is an encouragement to followers of Jesus to be bold and faithful in telling others about Jesus, despite the opposition, as God’s work to rescue His word cannot be stopped. But it’s also a challenge to those of us who have not yet grasped what God has done for us in Jesus. Why would these believers, some of them eyewitnesses of the resurrected Jesus, risk their lives? Clearly they valued, above everything else, the truth about Jesus and were willing to tell everyone they met about him. Their message can be summed up in the words of John 3:16:

 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

I was moved by a story shared recently by Open Doors (opendoors.org.au) of a 15 year old Bangladeshi Christian named Dudul.  While checking his family's corn fields he was violently attacked by a mob led by a local leader who falsely accused him of theft. Publicly humiliated and beaten, his ordeal was filmed and shared on social media. Despite threats to his doctors and family, they sought justice, and Open Doors is now supporting Dudul in his recovery. His story is one of many stories around the world of boldness and resilience in the face of severe persecution.

The writer of Psalm 2 tells the kings and rulers of the earth to be wise and serve God with awe and reverence; in other words, as number one in spite of their high position in society. Are you being wise, and serving God in this way through trusting and following His Son Jesus, in spite of what others may say and think? As the psalmist says, this is acting wisely!