Day 02 - Faithful to the End

Today, we hit the ground running.

We started just after sunrise and finished just before sunset — a full day immersed in the land of the Bible, with the Bible in hand, seeing the ancient world come to life before our eyes. 

There’s a saying in the Talmud: “When a child turns six, we stuff him with Torah like an ox.” Today felt a lot like that. We were stuffed — filled — with the sights, sounds, history, stories of Scripture and the early church.

Our journey took us to three significant sites: Sardis, Colossae, and Hierapolis.

It’s impossible to capture everything we learned and discussed, so for now, we’ll hone in on just one thought.

Yesterday, in Smyrna, we stood in the footsteps of early Christians who were encouraged to be faithful even to the point of death (Revelation 2:10). Today, at Hierapolis, we sat at the very site where one of the early apostles, Philip, was martyred for his faith. He didn’t just teach about faithfulness , he lived it all the way to the end.

It was sobering to sit in that place.

It was powerful to reflect on his story.

And it was convicting to consider our own.

A martyr is often defined as someone willing to die for their faith. But Jesus presses the definition even deeper. In Luke 9:23, He says: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

A martyr isn’t just someone willing to die for Christ, it’s someone willing to live every day for Him.

It’s the willingness to lay down our ambitions, our desires for recognition, our thirst for success or a platform. It’s the daily surrender of all we think we must have, in order to be found faithful with what God has given us.

Faithfulness and success are not always the same thing.

Some are faithful but never successful by worldly standards.

Some are successful but have not been faithful to the call.

Our responsibility is not to chase success - it is to be faithful. Faithful in little, faithful in much, faithful in obscurity, faithful in plenty. Whether famous or unknown, may it be said of us: They were faithful.

Tonight, we rest.

Tomorrow, before sunrise, we rise, and we will literally float above the land in hot air balloons, seeing the earth beneath us from a new perspective.

As we lay down to sleep after a full day, we reflect on Philip’s witness, and whisper a final prayer:  May I/we be faithful…!

Until then,

Jerrell 

“He who is faithful unto death is crowned with life.”

— Tertullian, On the Crown, c. 3rd century A.D.