Be faithful until
death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Revelation
2:10b NASB
Jesus said that
if we are “faithful until death”. He will give us “the crown of
life”. He is saying that if we are faithful to Him in this life
until we die, we will have eternal life with Him. Sounds conditional
doesn't it? That's because it is. If we hope to be with Jesus in
eternity then we was must live this life to His glory. We must remain
faithful in our relationship with Him.
Over the past
few days we have looked at several different topics concerning
salvation. Hearing the gospel, believing in Jesus, repenting of our
sins, confessing that Jesus is the Son of God and being baptized. The
last subject in this discussion is faithfulness.
We know that a
relationship cannot last if both parties are not faithful to that
relationship. If one becomes unfaithful in the relationship, the
relationship will never be the same. What Jesus wants us to know is
that when we commit to Him it is for life. He wants us to be
dedicated to Him for life.
Jesus made this
clear during His earthly ministry as well; But
Jesus said to him, "No one, after putting his hand to the plow
and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."
Luke 9:62 NASB Jesus
was speaking in response to a statement someone had
made; "I will follow You, Lord;
but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." Luke
9:61 NASB Jesus
wanted His followers to understand that following Him was their
priority for this life in order to join Him in the life to come.
So
we see that, once we make that commitment to Jesus it is for a life
time. If we lose our faith and we walk away we will not be in
relationship with Him anymore. Remember He said “Be faithful until
death”. That statement doesn't allow for a temporary faithfulness
or on and off again faith. He wants us to be as faithful to Him as he
is to us.
Paul
said this in 2nd
Timothy chapter 2 and verses 12 and 13; “If
we endure, we will also reign with Him; If we deny Him, He also will
deny us; If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny
Himself.” Paul
understood that Jesus faithfulness will never cease, but we are
capable of denying Him and losing our opportunity to reign with Him.
Paul knew it was a matter of endurance, seeing it through to the end.
That is how our faith is to be; enduring till the end.
©
2012 Leo J. Woodman
