Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.
Matthew 10:32 NIV
When I went to school, we still had a six-day week, with classes on Saturdays. On my first day in my new school, some teachers spoke to me about subjects that were offered only on Saturdays, and they wanted to see how we could solve the problem since that was my day of worship. The girls questioned me continually, “Why don’t you come to school on Saturdays?” During each break, some of my new classmates wanted to walk with me in the adjoining park so that they could hear the reasons for my strange lifestyle. I had never ever had to answer so many questions about my faith. Yet standing up for our faith strengthens our spiritual backbone.
When I started at the university, all freshmen had to take a placement test for French. Among other things, we had to write an essay in French. Having spent a summer in France, I had no problem and enthusiastically wrote page after page – unaware I was being watched. Later one of the other students came and sat down beside me in an English lecture. He had also taken the French test and considered the essay writing difficult. He said, “You wrote so much during the French text. How come it was so easy for you?” We started talking. He often came to sit beside me. I had told him early on that I kept the seventh-day Sabbath. He had never met anyone else who did. One day he said, “Listen, one day I will be a teacher. You are the only seventh-day Sabbath keeper I have ever met. You have positively influenced my impression of those who believe this. It will influence my attitude toward any future pupils I have of your denomination.”
I can’t remember what I said, but his words just bowled me over. I can’t even remember his name, but I will never forget his words. He had been watching me and formed his impression of me as a representative of my church. I was just a young girl, and I was not even aware of being watched. But, yes, people do watch us and what we do or don’t do. And they categorize and pigeonhole us.
It is a privilege to be a Christian and follower of Jesus. It is nothing to be ashamed of. That is why Jesus told us: Don’t be afraid to acknowledge me! (Matthew 10:32). He will be with us to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Hannele Ottschofski
From Notes of Joy, Copyright©2017 by Pacific Press Publishing Association