"before men..."

I thought about THIS verse this morning...
"32"Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33 NIV)"

My heart broke for 3 students this morning as I stood with them outside of Batavia High School (the closest high school to FVCC about 4 miles down the road). It broke not because I was with them, but because of who wasn't with them. This is a high school of about 1600-1700 students and 3 of them gathered for prayer. I watched many... many walk past. Many were asked to join them for prayer, but all rejected the offer. I thought of how incredibly difficult it would be for those three students to see those others throughout the day and feel that rejection.

But at the same time as my heart broke... it was also encouraged. It would have been easy for those three to bag it, say that no one else showed up, go to class and hope that no one noticed. But they didn't. They stayed and prayed. And I know that as they stood there, it wasn't three any more... it was four...

Jim