A young boy got off the school bus to go home. As he walked by the windows two older boys spit on him. Later two other boys would urinate on his shoes. The boy was a Christian.
A young girl sat at her wooden desk in the fifth grade class room. The teacher had gone to the supply room for a few minutes and the students were left alone. A boy crawled to the side of her desk and began to roll back and forth calling out, “Oh God! Oh God!” All the children laughed. She was a young Christian.
The persecution we suffer as adults may be much more subtle, but we also can struggle with the feelings of rejection. In our need to belong we are tempted to succumb to invitations to join in the rejection of holy living. But remembering who we work for can change the pain of rejection into the glory of being a child of God.
Jesus was also rejected, but was chosen by God and precious. We also are chosen by God to be living stones in a spiritual house. We are holy priests created to offer spiritual sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ (1 Peter 2:4).
If our behavior is our sacrifice to God, what kind of sacrifice are we offering?
