In that great challenge to evangelism just before his ascension, the Great Commission, Jesus commanded that his disciples disciple others. They were to lead them to faith through the preaching of the gospel, bring them into the fellowship of the church through the initiatory rite of baptism, and then, within that fellowship, continue to teach them all that Jesus had commanded them. He promised that he would be with them always as they did this. What a great promise! The disciples were to live for Jesus in a hostile environment. They were to serve as his witnesses, striving to bring others to faith and help them grow in it. But they were not to do this alone.

Christ’s words to the disciples in Mark 10:29-30 are not just an encouragement to trust him through difficult times. We can hardly escape this point since the Lord links his promise of blessings to the phrase "and with them, persecutions," thereby indicating that although he undertakes to bless us abundantly with homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and even fields, we will not enjoy these without the persecutions that inevitably come to any true follower of Christ. We will continue to have hardships until we come to possess our full inheritance in the presence of Jesus himself in heaven.