The Daily Word of Righteousness

My Reward Is With Me, #10

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (I Timothy 6:12—NIV)

We have to fight to take hold of eternal life. Eternal life is not a ticket we receive when we believe in Christ.

Right now we live by the life of flesh and blood. But the life of flesh and blood is temporary and corruptible. What we desire is Divine Life, Divine energy so we can live and move and have our being without sickness, weariness, or any other disabling force.

We want to be filled with life; to be crowned with life.

But if we would receive the reward of eternal life at the hand of Jesus Christ when He returns we must be willing to give up our life now.

Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. (Luke 17:33—NIV)

Our life has been given to us to do with as we will. If we choose to save our life by ignoring the demands of Jesus Christ, then, when He comes, we will not receive eternal life.

But if we surrender our life to Christ, giving over completely to His will so He may use us and do with us as He will, when He returns He will fill us with incorruptible Divine Life. We shall have life more abundantly if we are willing to place our present life in the bank of Heaven.

Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10—NIV)

Remaining patiently in the prison where we have been placed means to us a loss of life—loss of the ability to go where we desire; to do what we desire.

When we are placed in prison we are not to break out, if doing so requires that we lose our integrity; that we break God's laws; that we betray those who trust in us.

And so we stay here in our prison, like Christ hanging on the cross, our fervent desires withheld from us, year after year, life passing us by. Yet we stay here out of faithfulness toward God.

If we are willing thus to lose our life on the cross with Christ, when He returns He will fill us with His Life. Then we shall be truly alive forever!

Those who are part of the new Jerusalem are so filled with the Life of God that they have no need of sun or moon—no need even of sleep. They are totally alive in the Presence of God just as the Lord Jesus is. What a glorious prospect this is!

When we are young we are not as aware of the value of life. We are filled with energy—more than we need, actually. But when we are elderly we have just enough strength from the Lord to do what must be done. It is then we can appreciate what it will mean to be so gloriously alive we have no need of sleep.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. (Revelation 21:23—NIV)

To be continued.