Acts 5:40-41
So they took his advice, and when they had called in the Apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.
There is a wonderful Far Side cartoon featuring a happily whistling fool who is cheerily pushing his wheelbarrow loaded with burning coals through the streets of Hell. In the background, agonized souls wail and lament and the everlasting flames of the Inferno roar. But the whistling fool is oblivious. One frustrated demon standing nearby mutters to another demon, "Y'know, I just don't think we're reaching that guy!" The Apostles in today's verse have something of the same glorious and (from Hell's perspective) maddening interior freedom. What's the good of beating people if they only go away "rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name"? Today, rejoice in the Lord and take even your sufferings as signs of His divine love. It'll drive the devil nuts!
