Scripture to Meditate on

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Revelation 2:10

Here are some words and phrases from this Scripture that call for some meditation.

Do not fear

Suffering

Testing

Tribulation

Faithful to death

Crown of life

I'm not going to comment on all of them - just two. I'll leave the rest for you to consider.

'Do not fear'

What does this mean? It doesn't mean that if you feel a tightening in your gut as they are taking you away to prison that you've sinned. That's simply a physical response to what is going on. The real issue is what you do in response to that feeling in your gut. It's fine to say, 'Yep, I'm not going to like this', as long as you also say, 'but I know that I won't be facing this alone. Immanuel'. And being able to say that sort of thing isn't something that you can do on your own. It's an ability to trust your God that you work at in situations that aren't as terrible. It's an ability that you pray for. And the time you start to pray for that is now. 

'Faithful unto death'

I appreciate Jesus' honesty. It just might be that some of the Christians He is addressing in this letter will die as a result of the coming persecution. But that's part of what it means to be a Christian. His expectations of Christians today are no different. He still calls for faithfulness, continuing to live as a loyal follower, whatever the cost, even death. We need to prepare ourselves and especially our children for this possibility.

This is where it would be good to meditate on 'crown of life'.