For my fourteenth birthday, my dad took me to a professional hockey game. I was stoked. I’d never been to an NHL game. We had great seats which made up for the fact that the game was awful. But what made the game was the fact that, somehow, my mom had managed to get a call in to the arena beforehand and, in between periods, there on the big screen was a big giant happy birthday to me! No one knew who I was, but I saw it. My dad saw it. And I told everyone about it. It’s pretty awesome to get a shout out like that.

But a happy birthday on the jumbotron is nothing compare to what Jesus has promised us.

And I assure you of this: If anyone acknowledges me publicly here on earth, I, the Son of Man, will openly acknowledge that person in the presence of God’s angels.

Luke 12:8 (NLT)

Jesus has promised us the ultimate shout out. At what cost to us? Only that we publicly acknowledge his lordship in our lives. Sounds pretty easy to me.

This day and age, though, public acknowledgement of Jesus Christ as Lord can make the atmosphere a little (or a lot) tense. But then you have to ask yourself this: is quietly going about your life never letting anyone know you’re a Christian for fear of persecution worth losing out on Jesus declaring you his brother or sister openly in the presence of the angels? Probably not.

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to having a personal shout out from Jesus on the jumbotron of Heaven.

Daily Bible reading: 1 Samuel 1-3, Luke 12:1-34