Revelation 14 - 8.11.23

Scripture

Revelation 14:12

This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Observation

In John’s revelation regarding the end times, there are two camps of people: those whose follow God, and those who follow the enemy and the ways of the world. Those who follow the enemy – here described as those who worship the beast and have his mark on their foreheads – will be tormented forever and receive no rest forever.

What stands out to me is the simple truth that who or what we follow now will impact our eternity. The weight of that can’t be overstated. Like a fisherman casting lines into the water, the enemy has all kinds of lures he floats in front of us – money, power, entertainment, praise from men, the pursuit of our own pleasure, etc. And the result for those who go after them is eternal punishment and separation from God. In this passage, or any other, there is no third category of people who pursued those things but also loved God.

James 4:4

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

In light of this truth, we are called to patient endurance in keeping God’s commands and remaining faithful to Jesus.

Application

Keep God’s commands and remain faithful to Jesus.

Prayer

God, I ask for myself and all your people, that you grant us patient endurance in following you. Protect us from the deception of the enemy and lures of sin. May we love you, prefer you, choose you and obey you until the end. Amen.

-Levi Thompson