Revelation 6:9-11
- And
when he broke open the fifth seal, I saw an altar, and underneath it
all the souls of those who had been martyred for preaching the Word of God
and for being faithful in their witnessing. They
called loudly to the Lord and said, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how
long will it be before you judge the people of the earth for what they’ve done
to us? When will you avenge our blood against those living on the earth?” White
robes were given to each of them, and they were told to rest a little longer
until their other brothers, fellow servants of Jesus, had been martyred on the
earth and joined them.
John continues to write down the details of his vision of the
future. The lamb begins to open the scroll and as it unrolls further and
further a seal is broken to unveil vivid pictures of what is to come. Horses of
different colors with riders carrying weapons of battle and judgment…signs of
great earthly distress like earthquakes and moons that turn red…and stars that
appear to fall from the sky. The one that caused the most reflection for me as
I read last night was the altar he saw.
Underneath it were the souls of many Martyrs….calling out to God for vengeance
for their deaths.
A martyr is defined as one who dies for their beliefs. These
martyrs died because they preached the gospel…or allowed the faith they had in
Christ to allow them to stand for him…even in the face of death. I don’t know them all by name…but I can think
of the moment in the news when they passed to this honor. At the top of my list
are those children of Columbine… and many others are listed in the pages of
history books…like the apostle Peter.
I was drawn to how they called out to God for vengeance for
their unfair death. God answered them quickly with not yet…many more are yet to
join you. It got me to wondering if I have the kind of faith they have….and if
I could be as brave and strong if I am called to join them. They let God take
first place in the moment they needed him the most…trusting their very life to
the salvation he gives us all.
I want to be that honored…but know in my heart that I need
much more faith to be ready for a moment of testing like that. The epiphany of
the morning is that I just can’t feel confident in my own beliefs in to think I
could join them. But I know that God can
do all things through the blood he sacrificed to save me…so I guess I have more
prayer and study to figure out how to tap into that great wealth of faith and
confidence.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you can give me the
strength to do all things. Forgive me for the times I allow my human weakness
to limit my thoughts and actions. Help me to stay so connected to you that I
can increase moment by moment that you are within me to help me realize the
great faith of those that have died before me.
Help me to be ready to die for you in any moment that I am called to
take a stand for my belief in you. Amen.
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