Standing firm to the end

“All men will hate you because of Me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 10:22
This verse comes from Jesus’ commission to His twelve disciples, as He sent them out for a short-term missions trip into Israel. But it’s just as applicable to us today, and it contains two certainties that we always need to bear in mind.
The first of these is that “all men will hate you because of Me”. It’s a fact that as soon as you start to live your life 100% for Jesus, you’ll start to cop flak from the world around you. The reason is because you are now shining forth the light of Christ, which the people of this world (meaning, those who follow the mindset of the world, living for pleasure and living for themselves) find an irritation. John wrote, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed” (John 3:19-20).
The second is a promise: “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”. The Bible has a lot to say about the rewards we receive for persevering in the faith. We read in Hebrews, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first” (Heb. 3:14). We have help in doing this: “[Jesus Christ] will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:8). Are you standing firm?