overcome

I have been back in class again...studying Revelation this term. It has been very eye opening and sobering at the same time. There are so many things happening in the world today that make me think the time is near... yet, people have been saying that for centuries. Jesus is coming soon. No man knoweth the hour, but the wise one will know the sign of the times and they must, certainly, be upon us.

I think something that caught my eye this last class was this....
Revelation Chapter 6, verses 9-11

9And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:
10And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?
11And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

There is a sacrificial altar (Leviticus 4) where the blood from the sacrificial offering is spilled.... and here is sacrificial blood under the altar in Revelation... sacrificed from the martyred saints. They are killed for the Word of God and their testimony. How hard is it for us to make Godly choices now? and how much more in the face of persecution?

I think of our song we sing in church:

We will overcome by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony, everyone overcome...