Revelation 12.11 11 And they have conquered him by the
blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their
lives even unto death. (ESV)
I’ve read this verse so
many times. I’ve always focused on the part abou the blood of the Lamb and
the word of their testimony. These are very important things because without
them, well, there isn’t much else; except maybe this last part: they loved not their lives even unto death.
I think a paraphrase of this verse might be: And they lived conquering over their enemy
by the reality of the blood that was shed for them, and the validity of their
words about Him; because they lived steadfastly as if they had no turf to defend;
and nothing to lose because of it.
Much of who we are as humans is defend turf. The conflict
in Syria (and many other places in the world) is all about defending turf. We
in America love a game called Football
and when you boil it down it’s all about defending turf. We have become a
society which defends conflicting ideas, conflicting conversations and
conflicting beliefs; solely because it is our preciously held turf.
Remarkably, the only turf Jesus ever defended wasn’t ever
His own: He defended God’s turf: a thing called truth. When the Roman governor
Pilate interrogated Jesus, the Lord told him that those who believed in Him
were those who followed and accepted the truth, Pilate replied: what is truth?
(The implication: there is no such thing
as truth). Pilate’s denial of truth was his only defense in the face of it.
But the calling of God’s people is not to defend their
own truth – or perception thereof. Their purpose is to defend God’s truth even
to the death because they have no turf to defend and losing one’s life for God
is full proof of that.
I have too long lived believing I need to defend what I believe.
I am not called to that. Ever. Nowhere in the Bible am I commanded to defend my truth. My calling is to proclaim God’s
truth. Period. So, proclaiming it means knowing it so that when I am tempted to
get defensive, I can simply proclaim it. That’s what Jesus did, and He didn’t
love His life so much as to badger people who didn’t agree with Him.
That didn’t mean the Lord’s proclamations weren’t without
point or discomfort; but He didn’t get into pushing and shoving contests with
others over what truth was, and why one (whoever you is) needed to accept it. He
proclaimed it and left it up to the Holy Spirit to move people’s hearts. And if
He lost His life in the process of that: so be it.
I have no turf worth defending. I have opinions and
theories, and preferences and all that, but they are what they are mine.
Conversely, when I lay these things down and only proclaim God’s truth for what
it is, then I wait upon the Holy Spirit to do what He does with it – it’s His
turf, not mine.
Lord, may I learn to do as You did: simply proclaim God’s
truth, allowing Your Spirit to help people see it, and receive it… Amen.
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