Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, and he had an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. He declared in a loud voice: “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has arrived, and worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water!” … This requires the steadfast endurance of the saints—those who obey God’s commandments and hold to their faith in Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: ‘Blessed are the dead, those who die in the Lord from this moment on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their hard work, because their deeds will follow them.” Revelation 14:6-7, 12-13
New English Translation
In Revelation 14, we start off learning about those who have been faithful to God, the 144,000 who have God’s name on their forehead. Then, we learn of the fate of those who have the name of the beast…which is less than pleasant. Amongst both pictures we have a call to fear God and remain faithful in pursuing God. This urging is paired with the encouragement that some day we will find rest from the hard work of living for God. What a beautiful and full picture we get here of the real choice of life: pursuing God or pursuing the path of destruction.
Knowing that following Jesus isn’t easy is always a hard concept to come to terms with. However, what good thing on this earth has ever been easy? Think about it. Whether it be your job, your spouse, your home, or something else, the journey to where you are now was not a walk in the park; yet, you’d probably say it was worth the difficult parts to get where you are now. Imagine the difference it would make if instead of complaining about the difficulty of our faith journey we were faithful in pursuit of God like we were in faithful pursuit of those things like our job or spouse!
Honestly, I’d say part of what makes it difficult to faithfully pursue God and appreciate the challenging journey is we struggle to remember Who we are pursuing. It can be so easy to decide to be a Christian because you want to pursue joy, the gifts of the Spirit, peace, and more. Those are all good and right things, but they’re not what we are supposed to be set on.
Think of it this way: a man is pursuing the woman he wants to marry. He is focused on her. He does little things to show her that he cares. In the end, his pursuit of her leads to them getting married and having a happy marriage. But, what if he hadn’t been pursuing her but what she could give him? What if it was entirely about what he could get? Then, he has devalued the woman and selfishly sought after things to satisfy himself without consideration for her. Which sounds like a better deal for both involved? Him pursuing her! Yet, how often do we pursue things from God rather than pursuing God?
When we’re faithfully seeking God rather than what we want from God, it’s easier to look back at the difficult journey and be grateful. Instead of requiring certain outcomes to be happy, we’re simply satisfied that God was there through it all. Rather than devaluing God by requiring things from Him to be happy, we’re honoring Him when we long to be with Him.
Here’s my question for you: What are you pursuing? Do you seek for things from God or do you seek God? Be honest with yourself. I can say that I am as guilty as anyone of pursuing things from God rather than Him. Now is the perfect time for us to change. Right now, we can ask God for the strength to reset our minds and seek after the One we should have been seeking all along. Then, it will be easier to remain faithful because we don’t need things to be happy. So, are you ready to pursue God?