Conquering

Revelation 3:5

The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. 

A theme that is very distinct in this chapter was conquering and this is one instance of its recurrence. To conquer is defined by dictionary.com as “to gain, win, or obtain by effort, personal appeal, etc.; to overcome by force; subdue; or to win in war.” I like to define conquer as “to see out a mission to its entirety with success.” Our mission as followers of Christ is 1) to love Him above all else (Matthew 22:37-38) 2) Love others above ourselves as Christ loved them (Matthew 22:39) and 3) to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) and 4) to do this throughout our life. This is the job of a Christian. Do we conquer these tasks? If not (which none of us completely conquer these tasks), then how can we improve on them and will we do them for the glory of our King? To conquer in its truest sense is not to win one battle or overcome an obstacle, it is to finish the war being victorious. Though we may stumble in our walks and make mistakes, God looks toward our victory and desires to see us striving for improvement so that we can find victory. Though we have said a prayer to give our lives to God, this is not victory, victory is found in conquering and conquering in the Christian is found by dying to oneself daily (Luke 14:25-33) and seeking the Lord above all else and knowing Him and making Him known. 

Family, this is war, will we conquer or be conquered? It’s one or the other, there is no in between. May we not let any aspect of our life slip through without being claimed for the Lord. 

May the Lord be proud of us as conquerors in His name, children of the most High God.

-Ryan