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12/04/18 - Rev 3


Dec 4, 2018 

“I am coming soon.  Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”  Rev 3:11 

Don’t let go of your eternal reward in order to grab hold of temporary substitutes.

Credit cards often promote the power they give to their owner, telling us ‘not to leave home without them’, or ‘accepted everywhere’.  Spending power is greatly valued in this world.

If someone gave you a $20 bill as a gift, then offered you the chance to swap it for a monopoly $20 bill, unless you thought it was a trick, you would certainly not take the deal.  Rightly so, because the real thing is far better and more useful than the cheap substitute. 

Unfortunately, many times people unwittingly take the deal.

In the book of Genesis, Esau sold his birthright (the right to be the family leader and inherit a double portion from his father), for a bowl of soup in a hungry moment.  Later, in the book of Joshua, a man named Achin gave up his inheritance, his family, and his life for a few trinkets of Jericho riches.  David risked his kingdom and damaged his family, becoming a murderer and adulterer for one night of pleasure with Bathsheba.  Judas lost his place as a disciple and lost his eternal life by selling out Jesus for a few coins.  They all sold the real thing for the substitute, and lost dearly.

We’re not much different.  Many have sacrificed their faith to pursue financial prosperity.  Others give up their spiritual development and worship of God to be weekend warriors or get their kids in weekend athletics. This generation sells out its personal holiness and purity in order to pursue momentary sensual pleasures.  All of those cost more than just the sticker price – they steal your righteousness and damage your confidence to overcome.  Better to hold on to your character than sell it out for a few minutes of pleasure.

Jesus tells us: He is coming soon!  It may feel like He is taking forever, but a few years doesn’t feel that long the older we get.  And in the face of eternity, a few years of waiting is nothing.  Jesus is coming soon, whether it is during our lifetime or at the end of it.  Either way, it will only be a few decades at most.  So HOLD ON TO YOUR ETERNAL REWARDS instead of selling them out for temporary ones.

Eternal rewards spend a lot better!

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