Scripture to Read: Revelation 2:9
We are going to focus again on Revelation 2:9 today. As we saw yesterday, all Christians need to expect that persecution and suffering are going to come. Though we don’t experience persecution and suffering much here in Kentucky or the USA, we have fellow believers worldwide who do face persecution and suffering simply because they are pursuing Christ and His Word. As our Lord speaks to the believers in Smyrna and us in Revelation 2:9, He adds something of great value. Our Lord says, “I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich)…” Now we know that the believers in Smyrna were poor, yet Jesus calls them, and us, “rich.” Our Lord Jesus Christ will never focus on the riches of this world to describe someone as being rich. Our Lord knows, and we should too, that no matter how much material wealth a person accumulates from a worldly standard, they are destitute without Christ. Jesus says, in Matthew16:26, For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Gaining everything this world has to offer and missing Christ as our Lord and Savior is the worst tragedy of all. Our spiritual wealth as believers is only found in our living, loving Savior and Lord. Christ’s riches far exceed anyone’s physical poverty; that is why Christ calls the believers in Smyrna, “rich,” and that is why we are rich today. May we never forget what true riches are and that they are only found in Christ.
Challenge & Application
1. What did God teach you today about the difference between the riches of this world and the riches that are in Christ?
2. How is your life different, and how are your life’s ambitions different knowing that only Christ can satisfy us?
Don’t forget to pray using the A.C.T.S. (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication) method!