To Encourage You

Hebrews 13:13 “Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured.”

Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

If you want a clear view of the contrast between the world’s ways and God’s ways look at what the world would have us hide from view as opposed to what the world encourages us to shout from the rooftops.  It’s called “coming out of the closet” in the parlance of this day and age.  It is this phrase that speaks of bringing out into the open something that in the past was something to be ashamed of.  It’s about proudly letting other people know about what at one time was hidden from view, because at one time it was viewed as sin. 

On the other hand, for one to “come out of the closet” as a Christian is spoken of with disdain by the world. We are told that whatever we believe is fine if we keep it to ourselves, but to share those views with others is a no-no.  Who are we to tell others what to believe?  To each his own, as we so often hear. 

However, as a believer in Christ we are called to “obey God rather than man.”  In Acts 5 we read that that’s exactly what Peter said to the Jewish high priest when he was commanded to stop preaching or face arrest and prison.  If you are a believer, does anyone know it, or is it a hidden thing, something just between you and God, something that you don’t talk about because you know to do so would ruffle some feathers and make others look down on you?  Is your light hidden?  Are you, like Peter, in an incident earlier than that recorded in Acts 5, ashamed of Christ and are you tempted to deny Him? 

May this be an encouragement to boldly preach the Word of God to all who will listen.  May this be an encouragement to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you” (2 Timothy 1:6).  The world may hate you for it, for it hated Jesus, but the very life of many in this world depend on those who know the truth to speak that truth in love. 

The life-giving Word of God: it’s not something to keep between you and God. It’s not something to hide under a bushel in the words of the New Testament, or keep in the closet, in the words of the here and now.  No, it’s something to be boldly proclaimed, come what may.  You see, Jesus was not ashamed of us when He came forward to be nailed on a cross, and neither should we be ashamed of Him, Who came to earth to shine His light on the world, and in doing so, gave His life that we should live.