Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12

Does the key text refer to you? I have often read this text and thought about the early Christians who lost their life for their faith like Stephen, the martyr, when he was stoned. I also have thought about end time events when I would have to stand up for my faith. I mean, to be honest, I would not really say that I have endured much persecution as a result of being a Christian. Surly these things are to come in religious tolerant Britain? But maybe they are already here.

I came across this story last week which made me stop and think. Dan Walker, a football presenter is quoted as saying that he does not want to be "persecuted" for being a devout Christian and wants to be able to get on with his job.

Naively I hadn’t thought much about Sunday worshippers being the subject of Christian persecution, but it has made me look at the way I keep the Sabbath.  

Do you, do we do all we can to keep God’s special day holy? Think about it.

The song today is ‘Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy’. Click on the picture to listen.