Having an attitude

II Timothy 1:8-12 What is your attitude toward the Gospel? Are you ashamed of it? Do you avoid mentioning it when you are with people who may have a negative feeling about it? I've often wondered why anyone would be ashamed of the Gospel; after all it is the, 'power of God unto salvation unto everyone who believes.’ Evidently in that day there were many who lived as though they were ashamed. Why else would Paul mention it? Maybe it was the conscious or sub conscious thought of, "Why would I defend something I can't see in the light of possible persecution or ridicule?" How many times have we thought we saw something in a certain way, and it wasn't that way at all? I remember when we crossed the Great Salt Lake Desert in the summer. It looked for sure like there was a large body of water in the distance - there wasn't. In the matter of the Word of God and its promises, we have the testimony of the persons described in the Word and the testimony of our own experience and the assurance in our own spirits. Why then should there be any kind of fear or hesitation in speaking a word for Jesus? In Luke 9:26 we read, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels." In our nation, at this time, the worse that we can expect is ridicule or rejection and the best is, of course, their salvation. It should be a no-brainer.