To Be Cherished Always

Read Revelation 1:1–3:22

18. “Write this letter to the angel of the church in Thyatira. This is the message from the Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire, whose feet are like polished bronze:
19. I know all the things you do. I have seen your love, your faith, your service, and your patient endurance. And I can see your constant improvement in all these things.
20. But I have this complaint against you. You are permitting that woman—that Jezebel who calls herself a prophet—to lead my servants astray. She teaches them to commit sexual sin and to eat food offered to idols.
21. I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to turn away from her immorality.
22. Therefore, I will throw her on a bed of suffering, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly unless they repent and turn away from her evil deeds. Revelation 2:18-22

Some things in life just seem too good to pass up. For instance, a 30 percent-off sale at the mall always seems to happen when we have no money. At a time like this it is easy to justify spending more than we should with our credit cards. Or what about indulging in foods that are not healthy for us? Opportunities to do so always seem to come right after we have made a commitment to healthier living.

The same rule applies to sin. Just because people have made a commitment to Jesus Christ does not mean that the temptations stop. In this reading, Jesus has strong words for those who think that God’s moral law has been suspended for them. He especially condemns those who have taught others the same.

Not every word in this reading is one of condemnation, however. Jesus has some encouraging words for the persecuted church as well as for the obedient church.

In this portion of Revelation, John rebuked the Thyatiran believers for tolerating sexual immorality in their church (Revelation 2:20). The false prophetess Jezebel taught them to regard it lightly, but it was not a light matter at all.

The temptation to minimize the problems of sexual immorality has never been greater. Virtually everyone regards sexual choice as a freedom and right of adulthood. If “two consenting adults” can’t be free to decide to have sex, then who can? Or so the reasoning goes. Yet God invented sex to be an intimate bond between husband and wife only (see Genesis 2:24). The fact that we can easily corrupt it gives us all the more reason to guard its purity closely.

Cherish your sexuality as you would a precious gem. How you express it matters a great deal. Keep yourself pure for the sake of Christ and the purpose for which he created you.