Jeremiah 24-26
Titus 2

“[Jesus said to them] ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can,’ they answered.” Matthew 20:22

When I (Farzam Mohajer) became a Christian, I remember saying a prayer alone in my room: “God, I can’t. I can’t live this life on my own. Can You forgive me? Can You come and take over?” From that moment, the Holy Spirit came and changed my life even though I had no idea who God was. For the next three years, I was searching for God. I tried all kinds of things like religion, self-help books and pop philosophy. One day, I walked into The Peoples Church (Toronto, Canada) where the preacher said, “If you would like to receive Christ, stand up” and I stood up to receive Christ.

Afterwards, a high school friend who also attends the church took me to lunch. He noticed that I had just come to Christ and told me, “You know, Farzam, the Christian life involves a lot of suffering.” What he said caught me completely off-guard. I asked, “Then why would someone want to be a Christian?” Up until that point, I had encountered so many miracles and noticed God changing my life and my heart. I no longer had an appetite to do the things that I used to do in the past that were harmful to me. Although when I came to Christ life did get better, as I continued in my Christian walk, I realized my friend was right—there was suffering.

As we consider the book of Hebrews, it was written to Jewish believers; they had experienced the salvation of Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, but then life got hard. They experienced ridicule, persecution, cultural marginalization, the confiscation of their properties and imprisonment. Some were renouncing their faith, as it was too hard to follow Christ, but the author of Hebrews was encouraging the church to keep persevering in their faith because there is no one like Jesus—He is worthy to suffer for—and warning them against unfaithfulness, intentional sin and turning away.

Christians are repeatedly reminded that their suffering does not stand in a void, but actually joins them deeper with their Christ who suffered. In the ancient Near East, “the cup” was a metaphor for someone’s fate, like “my cup overflows…” (Psalm 23:5) expresses a tremendously blessed life. Hence, when a man and woman would get married, the man would pour wine into his cup and take it to his bride. If the bride drank it, it would mean “our fate is now intertwined. I am willing to accept the blessings and the hardships of our union.”

As a Christian, are we willing to accept the cup of blessings and sufferings that come in our union with Christ?

Dear Jesus, I willingly drink the cup that You give me, accepting the blessings and the sufferings that come in my union with You. I love You, Lord.

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