The One Who is Victorious

I started reading Revelation today and was struck by a statement that repeats itself seven times – once for each of the seven churches talked about in the first couple chapters of Revelation.  The section for each church talks about what will be done for “the one who is victorious.”  A portion of each of these statements is below.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life . . .

The one who is victorious will not be hurt at all by the second death.

To the one who is victorious, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give that person a white stone with a new name written on it . . .

To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations . . .

The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life . . .

The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.

To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

It reminded me of another passage.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

I am reminded that the life with God was never intended as the “easy life”.  I don’t give my life to God to have him take care of everything and coast through to the end.  It is too easy to try to coast.  Do I have to run this race on my own?  No!  Is God my strength?  Yes!  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  The passage in Hebrews says two things that are VERY difficult.

First, “throw off everything that hinders.”  There are so many distractions in this world – so many things to occupy my thoughts and time.  Some of those things are even good things.  But it is difficult to run when weighed down by a heavy load.  Some of these things might be simple to drop.  Others may require much time in prayer.  Either way, I have the power of God on my side.

Second, “fix our eyes on Jesus”.  This actually carries over from throwing off everything that hinders.  I need to look straight into the face of Jesus – every moment of every day.  Between my sinful nature and the attacks of the Devil, there are so many things to enter into our field of view.  But absolutely nothing has any importance if it gets in the way of my sight towards Jesus.

Let us continuously pray for each other that we would all throw off everything that hinders, fix our eyes on Jesus, and run this race so that it can be said of you and I, “to the one who is victorious.”