Heartily Willing

Acts 5:17-42

The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. (Acts 5:41)

ONE OF THE STORIES OF THE execution of John Brown, a Scottish Covenanter in the seventeenth century, describes the scene of a group of soldiers arriving at Brown’s house one morning with an ultimatum for him to recant his beliefs and swear allegiance to the king or be killed. Brown refused to recant. He turned to his young wife and asked if she was willing for him to part. “Heartily willing,” she replied, understanding the times and the implications of his stance. Brown was shot in front of his wife and children, and before the soldiers marched off, the executioner asked her what she thought of her husband now. “I have always thought well of him,” she said, “but now more than ever.”^a

Few Christians in developed Western countries face such oppression today, though many in other parts of the world do. But from the start of the first-century church, it has been clear that human rulers often feel threatened by the higher loyalties of those who are committed to God. At the beginning of the first wave of persecution against Jerusalem’s Christians—a relatively short but intense period—the presence of the Spirit was so powerful that, as with John Brown and his widow, the choice was clear and even desirable. Considering the one in whose name they suffered, suffering was a privilege. The benefits of serving him were well worth the costs.

At any moment of our lives, that truth is worth keeping at the forefront of our minds. Many modern cultures have grown soft with the comforts and conveniences so common to us, and most people think something has gone terribly wrong when life gets difficult. But we know better. In the Kingdom of God, at least for now, we can be certain of difficulties. We will need to persevere. The rewards are immensely worthwhile, but the costs are real. Wherever you are facing them in your life today, let your high calling and the name of Jesus make you “heartily willing” to go on.

{Jesus, your name is above all names; your Kingdom is greater and more lasting than any other. May I never sacrifice eternal glories for the conveniences of the moment. Amen.