“When the Lamb broke open the fifth seal, I saw at the foot of the altar the souls of those whose lives had been sacrificed for [adhering to] the Word of God and for the testimony they had borne.” Revelation 6:9 ->me: Let’s call out, first of all, what I focused on today -> ‘foot of the altar’ and ‘calling out the souls of martyrs’. The first thing I asked myself is “why is there an altar in heaven when Jesus has already been offered as the perfect sacrifice?” I think the answer is that this is an altar of incense and prayer; additionally the martyr’s technically offered up their own lives to God by staying true to the message of Christ. The foot of the altar appears to not only be a place of privilege but also a place of safety in God’s keeping. Secondly, martyr’s obviously hold a special place in heaven set apart from the other souls who have died by other means. The beautiful part of this passage is the aspect of the martyred souls being at the foot of the altar means that when these people sacrificed their lives to further the gospel, the most significant part of their act took place in heaven. What is my life application to this passage? I want to be so dedicated and committed to God’s purpose in my life that I hold fast to my testimony in Christ rather than maintaining a grip onto life itself. The bible, and more specifically Revelation, promise that hostility towards committed Christians will exist until the end of time. My goal cannot be to win the favor of my common man, rather it must be to stay as close to the heels of the Lord and His purposes, even if that means following Him right into heaven through death.
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