Day 04 - Aphrodisias, Philadelphia

Day 4 - Restoring Identity

We have completed Day 4 in Turkiye!! We started off our day in Aphrodisias. We learned about relief sculptures which are created because of something that someone wants you to believe or propaganda that is being pushed. We have so many identity issues that we deal with ranging from sports to gender identity that our world pushes. If you follow Jesus, you are a citizen of His kingdom and reflect His message.

Also in Aphrodisias, we saw a gladiator stadium. Rome is obsessed with sport. Sports were a way for people to be admired, used for entertainment, and to instill fear. We don’t know a world without sport. Sports will end. Where is your treasure? The New Testament is filled with scriptures with sports imagery. In this life, we are running a race. We are not sure when it will end but we can run this race by being faithful to God and know that we have already won. Jesus isn’t judging your stride or pace but just asking you to run the race set before you.

Next, we made our way to the city of Philadelphia. We dove into Revelation 3:7-13. There was a lot of suffering and burnt land in the city. They had earthquakes, changes of names for the city, and persecution of Christians. This letter reminds them that the key to perseverance is their faith. They did not have money or power. They struggled. Yet, they did not deny Jesus but Jesus is a restoring peace that restored their identity. They had no criticism in the letter but they are reminded that they are God’s people.

We are faced with so many different issues in this world. No matter what we face or what life throws at us, we have to continue to run the race. The key to perseverance is faithfulness. Our identity is not drawn from what we do or what the world tells us but who God says we are. We are his image bearers called to go out and run our race until he calls us home.

- Faith Wolverton