“Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven.” (Matt. 10:32)

I RECEIVED CHRIST when I was in my mid-teens. My lifestyle changed overnight. I had been on a dangerous trajectory prior to receiving Christ. On weekends, I had accompanied my older brothers to taverns and was beginning to adopt some of their bad habits.

Not long after I accepted Christ, one of my brothers, who was married with a young son, stopped by to visit my mother when I was not at home. Upon hearing I had made a “religious conversion,” he said, “Things will never be the same now, will they?” He expected me to change! Rather than scorn my decision, he went on to tell my mother about an affliction from which his son was suffering. He even asked her to ask me to pray for the little boy.

I don’t know how many others prayed for him, but I did. When the affliction went away, my brother, attending a gathering of his wife’s family, told them the “Man Upstairs” had touched his son and that’s why he was healed.

I did not personally witness to my brother except by doing what every Christian should do—pray. Yet he acknowledged God before others on my behalf. Truly, God works in mysterious ways.

Acknowledging Him may not be met with acceptance. It may bring scorn, ridicule, even persecution. Yet as J. C. Ryle says, “Let us not be laughed out of heaven.”

Look for some way to acknowledge Christ before others today.

Ron McClung serves as assistant general secretary for The Wesleyan Church and lives in Fishers, Indiana, with his wife, Carol. They have two sons, nine grandchildren, and two great-granddaughters.

© 2018 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.