Anyone with ears to hear

Revelation 13

9 Anyone with ears to hear
should listen and understand.
10 Anyone who is destined for prison
will be taken to prison.
Anyone destined to die by the sword
will die by the sword.

This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.

Now, here’s an encouraging word, eh? God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful. We Christians in America pray for peace and safety, and personal protection, when we should be praying for patient endurance. We wince when our culture makes fun of us, and we lash out when the culture “attacks” our faith. Still, we have not been faced with death, like so many of our brothers and sisters around the world. We should be crying out with thanksgiving that we have not had to undergo such persecution so far. We should be preparing for such times, and we should be wondering if our faith is really that effective in our culture, since we are not really undergoing any serious persecution. Yeah, these are the thoughts swirling through my head as I read from Revelation. The church in America is so much like the seven churches to whom this letter was written...a church often that is simply going through the motions. Our most needed prayer is one of repentance.