Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Revelation 2:10.
Heavenly Father, how easy it would be for us to give up and walk away from those trials that seem too much for us to bear, but, for the grace of God, that gives us the strength to persevere! May we never forget that if we remain in the race victory is guaranteed. In the triumphant name of Jesus the Christ we pray. Amen.
Today we will continue with our study on perseverance. We realize that perseverance doesn’t just happen. It is inspired. It takes place by motivation. It is fueled.
So today we are going to be looking at another reason to stay in the race. For this we will take a look at the church at Smyrna. In John’s day Smyrna was an important seaport. It was situated north of Ephesus.
A point of interest about the church at Smyrna is that, along with the church at Philadelphia, they are the only two churches that did not receive words of rebuke from the Lord.
The congregation was largely Jewish and apparently there were a lot of anti-Christian sentiments within the church. These are described as coming from “those who say they are Jews and are not”, and the “Synagogue of Satan.” These are all “telltale” phrases of the possible persecution against Christians within the church.
The 10 days of tribulation could represent the ten years (day for year) persecution suffered by Christians during the years A.D. 303-313, under Emperor Diocletian. It could also represent a limited time of persecution.
But the question that is of interest to us in our study of perseverance is: What inspired the Christians at Smyrna to persevere? Our answer is found in our verse for today: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
The promise that God, who keeps His promises, would give them, not a perishable crown made of laurel, olive, apple, or any other perishable leaf, but a crown that would never perish. A crown that symbolized eternity. Their crown would be as eternal as the life they would also receive. An eternity with the Lord! That promise is what kept them in the race!
What would be ten years of persecution in comparison with an eternity of bliss? Is there any comparison between “six scores and ten” years and eternity (a concept we cannot even understand with our finite minds)? Life on planet earth is no bed of roses under any condition, anyway. Listen to the words of the psalmist:
“The days of our lives are seventy years; And if by reason of strength they are eighty years, Yet their boast is only labor and sorrow;For it is soon cut off, and we fly away” (Psalm 90: 10; emphasis provided.). Lived in sorrow! Ends abruptly! That is life as we know it.
Have we begun to look at life in this way? Today might be a good time to start! Perhaps we will be encouraged to persevere as we realize that we will be given everything, and giving up nothing.
Please note title change of the last two devotionals.