David Hudgens
“The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelation 3:12-13
I grew up poor, truly poor, as the middle child of five siblings living in Taylor. Later in life, my mother shared with me memories of those early years growing up in “the blue house” (my family’s beloved name for our Taylor home). Among these memories included a game that she would play with my two older sisters. The game was this: my sisters, three and five years of age at the time, would compete to collect as many pop cans as possible while out for a walk with my mother as she pushed me, an infant, in the stroller. My sisters would gleefully try their hardest to out due the other in hopes of receiving the reward of a special candy bar at the grocery store after the money was collected from their haul of empties. Now, however fun this revelry was for my siblings, the point of the game, I learned, was not to reward them with candy, rather it was to gather as many cans as possible in hopes the deposit amount would afford the purchase of blue box macaroni because that would be the day’s lunch-time meal.
In that moment of sharing, I learned that my development years were often occupied with the very real mystery of where our next meal would come from. However, I would also learn through my mother’s recounting that these early years of following Jesus would also serve to shape her and my father’s authentic devotion to Christ.
You see, only five years before this memory did both of my parents come into the saving knowledge and grace of Jesus Christ. Before that time, by their late twenties, they had achieved relative success as the owners of multiple restaurants and were able to buy and experience whatever they desired. They were known within the cities they lived and worked in and were welcomed at the tables of the strong and powerful. However, as is so often the refrain of those like them, they felt empty and without hope. That is until they met Jesus! Meeting Jesus changed everything, and as a result of surrendering their lives to the Lord, my parents began a new journey of sacrificial living in the pursuit of their loving Savior and of His purposes for their lives, and most of all for His glory alone.
In their new life with Christ, I suppose not unlike the church in Philadelphia, my parents had little by worldly standards. Over the course of their faithful years to Jesus, they had little status, little money, and little influence. They were rejected by many. Sometimes, they were even turned away from those within the family of God. However, what they did possess was a strong faith, a confident hope, and an unquenchable love for the Savior. They bound themselves to the Word of God and learned to depend fully upon the Spirit of God for all things. They had learned, as the apostle Paul famously penned that he knew “the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13 NIV).
So then, I ask, what is the result from this learning to be content, this learning to endure? Consider these words from Jesus as He describes the eternal destiny of the faithful in Philadelphia.
Revelation 3:12 says, “The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own new name.”
Indeed, what hope awaits anyone who endures, anyone who holds fast to their faith. It is a hope that gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). It is a hope that brings honor to the lowly (Proverbs 29:23). Moreover, what a glorious promise is given to the faithful to become “pillars” in the temple of God, to have the name of God written upon them forever, and to be secured as His possession for all eternity! Yes, what a privilege it is to suffer in the way of Jesus, who is the stone the builders rejected and yet became the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22).
So Christian, be of good cheer. When suffering comes, suffer well and “keep a strong grip on the teaching we passed on to you” (2 Thessalonians 2:15 NLT). Keep His Word and do not deny His name. In 2 Corinthians 4:17, we read, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”