Vineet is a follower of Christ in India. When he was younger, Hindu militants forced to him leave his parents and home because of his faith. Since then, he has twice more been kicked out of towns and had his property seized. All because of his faith in Christ (Matthew 5:10-12). This isn’t unusual in India, a nation that is growing ever more hostile to Christianity. What struck me about Vineet was his courage and faithfulness.

Older now, he leads a Bible study deep in the jungle away from the eyes of forces who wish to silence him. After years of suffering and injustice, Vineet simply says, “I have dedicated my life to serve and be persecuted for the sake of Jesus. I will do this until my last breath. Nothing can separate me from the love of God” (2 Timothy 3:12; Romans 8:38-39). This man’s life is inspiring and should encourage each of us to examine our commitment to Christ.

In some ways, it’s easy to spend your life serving Jesus. There is no shortage of opportunities, and most of us can find ways to stay busy in the context of the church we attend. We can pray and read our Bibles every day and be generous with the resources God entrusts to us (Luke 12:48). From the world’s perspective, we can be devout and maintain an impeccable character for the sake of the Gospel. This is the life each of us is called to live (Philippians 1:27). In Western countries, there is still little pushback to serving Christ. That’s changing and soon we will need to deal with the second half of Vineet’s declaration.

It is a commendable thing to spend your life in the service of the Lord and King. What happens when doing so brings not just ridicule but physical violence into your life (John 15:18-20)? Will you still serve Jesus when doing so means going to jail? It was not so long ago that Christians were drowned and burned at the stake for refusing to denounce their faith (Hebrews 11:35-38). Is your faith strong enough to endure such consequences?

Vineet has stated and proved with his many years of devotion that he will live his life to be persecuted for the sake of Jesus (Acts 5:41). That’s a long way from the goals most of us set for our lives. He’s not concerned with how big his house is or how comfortable his furniture is (Matthew 6:19-21). Vineet’s ambition is to suffer for the sake of Christ until his dying breath. What sort of welcome do you think he will receive in Heaven? We can scarcely imagine the majesty of that celebration (Matthew 25:21).

And then there’s us. What are we living for? Many of us will claim we are living to serve Jesus. We’ll even say we will serve Him at any cost. But will we live our lives to be persecuted for the sake of Christ (1 Peter 4:12-14)? Will we give up every childhood and adult dream in favor of suffering for Jesus? There’s a whole other level of devotion there, but it’s the exact level Jesus demands (Luke 9:23-24). It’s the level we promised when we surrendered everything to the Lordship of Christ. We said it, we may have even meant it, but are we living it? I submit until we are ready to live our lives being persecuted for Jesus, we aren’t ready to live for Him at all (Revelation 2:10). Consider that as we pray and go throughout this day.