This past week, I was reading the latest Voice of the Martyrs magazine that came in the mail. I was looking at a picture of a pastor in Northern Vietnam baptize a woman who had recently accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior. Vietnam found inside the 10/40 window and is classified as a nation that is hostile to the Gospel. Actually, seven of the eleven countries that I will be going to next year are inside the 10/40 window. (You can read more about the 10/40 window on my previous blog here. Or you can check out the Joshua Project)
I am so grateful for the privilege of growing up in a country where I am free to worship Jesus where ever and however I please. But, I do not want to be blinded or removed from the very real cost of the gospel. All over the world, my brothers and sisters in the Lord are paying a price for their allegiance to the King above all other kings that I cannot even begin to imagine.
One day soon, I will be standing face to face with my brothers and sisters and sharing in their pain. As one who has not yet personally known the reality of persecution, what comfort can I offer from the One who has never taken His eyes off of them. I asked this question to the Holy Spirit and He answered:
The Lamb who was slain, and now sits enthroned as the risen Lion, is supremely worthy of worship.
You see, right now, this day, the 24 elders are casting down their crowns before the Lord. The 4 living creatures are circling His throne crying ‘Holy. Holy. Holy.’. All of Heaven is focused on Him. From everlasting to everlasting, He will be worthy of worship. On the day we stand before Him and see Him face to face, we will fall down and worship Him. But, He is no less worthy today of worship than He will be on that day!
Worship has always been costly. The first mention of the term ‘worship’ in the Scriptures is when Abraham takes Isaac up the mountain when the Lord asks for his son (Genesis 22). Worshiping the Lord is determining with our actions and lives that we will not place anything or anyone… no matter how precious they are to us… before the One who is worthy of all of our devotion.
Our hope and our joy is found in the truth that whatever the cost, He is worth it. Whatever precious thing we lay down or cross we pick up, He sees us and knows us completely. We have captured the heart and gaze of the One who is worthy, above all others, of our undivided attention and devotion.
Matthew 13: 44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field.
Possessing the kingdom of heaven has always been costly. But, the joy of the One thing outweighs the ‘loss’ of all other things. Whatever the cost, He has been and will always be worth it!!
