Odd Todd Part Two

Matthew 5:11-12

Blessed and happy are you when others revile you, pursue you, and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.

When you live for Jesus you live against Satan and his sin system. You can’t help it. That’s how the Christian life works. If you never feel that pressure from Satan’s forces to conform, you might be trying to hide from being an “Odd Todd.” (You’ll have to read last week’s blog.)

If those around you don’t know you are a Christ follower, you’re not doing it right. Because Jesus didn't say  if  you are persecuted and pursued on His account  but  when  you are. Yes, I looked it up in my lexicon and it’s  when.

This is so like the earthly life of our loving Christ. If there ever was a peacemaker it’s Christ. And yet everywhere He went He was pursued by those wanting to learn from, believe in, and be forgiven by Him and those who wanted nothing more than to discredit and destroy Him. His life was a confrontation of sin. His life conquered sin. His life, death, and resurrection gave us victory over Satan’s hold over our lives. That can’t make Satan and his forces happy.

   

So for we, Christians, it’s a wonderful, awful, victorious, scary, happy, sad, life filled with the best sister/friends you’ll ever know and the worst enemies that hound your heels you’ll ever know. It comes with our surrender to the Christ like life.  

Whew, that’s a little harsh and hard to totally surrender to. But throughout the history of Christ followers it has been that way. So why do we still to this day commit to Jesus Christ? Why do we follow this controversial God? Because we were drawn to Him. Because in our pursuit to find the wonderful life, we found wonderful Him.

The delightful thing about these happy instructions from Jesus (yes, the Odd Todd is coming out) is that these ungodly people are pursuing us. They are drawn to us and our Christian peculiarity. They notice us because we are so Odd Todd. And they want to know why. And they want to know if it is real. Wow, this puts us in a great position. Whether they like it or not this persecution puts the persecutors right into our Gospel giving hands.

This is God giving us an opportunity to show the world what He can do with a life, what He did in our lives. God gives us not only the gift of salvation, His promise to be with us for all our life, and heaven beyond but leads others to pursue us so that we can automatically share His plan of salvation.

Is it always fun and exciting? Sometimes Yes. Sometimes No.

 Is it always pleasant? Sometimes Yes. Sometimes No

Will it make us happy? Always Yes.

Odd Todd to the max!