If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.
John 12:26
A prince and his servant traveling through a hostile region were taken captive by the enemy. After being beaten and thrown into a dungeon, the prince developed a terrible fever, and it looked as though his days were numbered. Semi-conscious as he was, however, he didn’t miss the opportunity to alert his servant when their guard fell asleep one day.
‘Get his keys and get out of here,’ he said. ‘I’m too weak; I can’t make it. But you go. This is your chance.’
‘My prince,’ answered the servant, ‘where you are, there I will be. If need be, we’ll both die here together.’
Two weeks later, the prince’s father launched an invasion and freed his imprisoned son in the process.
‘Oh, father,’ said the prince immediately upon his return, ‘even as my servant stayed with me in my danger, suffered with me in my sickness, stood by me in my imprisonment, honor now him.’
And the servant was honored throughout the kingdom.
So too with you. The Lord knows you could opt to escape, that His way of the Cross and obedience is not always easy. The Lord knows many of you are truly paying a price to follow Him. You’ve been passed by for promotions at work because you’ve stood for integrity; or you’ve stayed in a relationship because you committed yourself maritally.
‘Forget it,’ the world says. ‘Here’s a key: Get out. Go on. Be free.’
But you’ve said, ‘No, my Master, my Prince, my Savior has called me to follow Him. And even when it’s not easy, I will stay by Him.’ I’ve got good news for you who have taken this stand by the Father’s Son, the Prince of Peace. After the invasion, when He brings you safely home to heaven, you will be honored greatly, for the Father honors those who honor His Son.
