Belonging To Jesus

“Do not harm the earth, the sea, or the trees till we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.”

Revelation 7:3

Occasionally we see a magazine article or television show that features pets and their owners who actually look alike. Or couples who have lived together for decades and can finish one another’s sentences. When we see them together, we think, Those two just naturally belong together.

Something similar was said about some of the apostles in Jerusalem after Pentecost. When the local Jewish authorities heard the power and boldness of Peter’s preaching, “they realized that [the apostles] had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13). It should be obvious to those around us that we have been with Him as well—that we and Jesus belong together. The world will see that happen during the Tribulation, when 144,000 Jews are saved by God to be witnesses for Jesus during that tumultuous period on earth. They will actually receive some sort of seal on their foreheads, making it obvious that they belong to God, not to the Antichrist.

When people look at you today, will they know to whom you belong? Ask God to fill you afresh with His Spirit that you might become more like Jesus today (Romans 8:29).

However holy or Christlike a Christian may become, he is still in the condition of “being changed.”

JOHN R. W. STOTT