You Accepted It With Joy

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ. Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering. Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things. You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy. You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever. Hebrews 10:32-34

IT WASN’T EASY for the early Christians who were being addressed in the letter of Hebrews to follow Christ. They were ostracized in the business community, rejected by their families, unwelcome at the Temple, and some had their property confiscated. Yet when everything they owned was taken from these believers, they “accepted it with joy.” This is stunning. If we consider it carefully, we wonder how it could really be true. More significantly, we wonder if it would be true of us.

The writer of Hebrews tells us how these early believers were able to respond to loss in the midst of persecution in this way. They “knew there were better things waiting for [them] that will last forever.” They were able to let go of their worldly possessions because they knew what was waiting for them in heaven was better.

Our children instinctually know what truly makes us happy and what has the power to rob us of joy. So they know if Christ is our true satisfaction or merely an inherited tradition. They know if he is the passion of our lives or if we’re merely going through the motions. It becomes evident when our commitment to Christ costs us something —like the investment of our time in a service project rather than a favorite sporting event, or a gift of money to gospel work that we were going to spend on a vacation. When we accept financial loss, the loss of health, the loss of advancement, and the loss of opportunity or freedom with genuine joy instead of self-pity or resentment, it becomes evident to our children that we’re not depending on this world to make us happy. Our joy is anchored in the life to come.

Lord, everything you are, and everything you provide now and in the life to come, is everything I need and more than I could ever ask for. Increase my confidence in what you have prepared for me so that I will respond to losses in this life with joy and contentment.