Tribulation

Today's reading: Revelation 7:1-17

'Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.' - Revelation 7:13-14 NIV

Like we have said before, it is hard for us as Christians in the United States to understand what "great tribulation" is really like. This may be why so many Christian authors have made so much money talking about a coming tribulation that will stalk Christians and try to intimidate them into forsaking their faith.

Yet if we took the time to interview a Christian from North Korea, Afghanistan, or Somalia, asking them their opinion on tribulation, they would tell a much different story. They find themselves in the middle of persecution as you read this post: imprisonment, execution, and labor camps. In North Korea, most adult Christians have to worship so much in secret that they don't tell their children about their own faith till they are teenagers.

So, when we say things like, "What you do in this life when it comes to Jesus is the most important decision you will make," it rings loud and true for persecuted Christians, and it should speak loudly to us as well.

We should be so thankful for our religious freedom, but we should pray it never makes us soft or apathetic when it comes to Jesus' sacrifice.

Only Jesus can make us clean, preparing us for eternal life. Nothing cleanses like His blood. May we put our trust completely in Him today!