Well Done

John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Revelation 1:4-5

Today, we continued to study the letters to the seven churches that we read about in the book of Revelations. We visited the cities of Thyatira, Asklepieion, and Pergamum. Ancient cities in which God’s people struggled to stay true to their one and true God without conforming to the world in which they lived. In Thyatira, a massive trade center where goods like bronze, dyes, textiles and pottery were sold, the people of God needed to navigate the struggle to buy and sell goods without conforming to the guilds and the world’s Gods. The guilds were a sort of union or even fraternity that dictated business and even social guidelines that must be followed in order to buy and sell, like worshipping and paying homage to their worldly God and participating in the worldly activities that are against God’s word.

In Asklepieion, the city known for it’s medical care, it was the God Asklepieus and others that were required to be worshipped. Imagine if you or a loved one was hurting or close to death. What would you do in the name of helping them? These were the struggles that the new church had to navigate.

My question, well, our question is, is it any different for us today? We have debated and struggled with how to be distinctive and different from the world we live in, while being the light we are called to be, wholly devoted to God and loving our brother.

We may not be asked to bow down and worship a false God, burn incense or offer sacrifices but we have many pulls in our world that find us doing just that.
God admonishes us to stay faithful to him, always. In the letters to the church, God acknowledges his love and affection for his people but also reprimands and speaks harshly of their conformity to the world they live in. He is merciful yet expects us to live according to His word and deny the pull of the world we live in. To those victorious He promises things like hidden manna and a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to the one who receives it. Revelation 2:17

In more than one city we’ve seen stone pillars with names written on them of the faithful who have steadfastly held on to him. I know that I want my name to be written on a stone or pillar saying that I held strong to Jesus and brought the good news to those around me.

In closing, and in the sweet words of our Greek guide, Alliki,
“My Dears,” stay strong, run the race and finish well! Hold on to the hope of someday soon hearing, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”

Whoever has ears, let them hear what the spirit says to the churches. Revelation 2:24

Blessings - Tripp and Kelli