For whoever therefore is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.

— Mark 8:38

One of my favorite stories illustrates the courage it takes to obey God and never be ashamed of Him. This story is about a senior high school football player who was a star quarterback. He was also a dedicated Christian. Every day he attended a little Bible study after school, so he took his Bible to school and carried it right on top of all of his other books.

Of course some of the other guys on the football team mocked him and laughed at him. One day after football practice, after the team had finished showering and dressing and were about to leave the room, this young quarterback started to pick up his books with the Bible right on top of them. One of the other football players looked at him and said, “Don’t you feel like a sissy carrying that Bible around with you all the time?”

The young man looked at his teammate and then he looked down at his Bible. He picked it up and hit the fellow right in the gut with it. “Here,” he said. “You carry it around for a week. See how much of a sissy it takes.”

Paul declared that he was not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nor should we be.

Question to ponder:
Is there any context where you are tempted to hide the fact that you are a Christian?