Revelation Chapter 2:8-11

1) Do you consider yourself to be wealthy?  How do you measure wealth? 

2) Through what kinds of trials have your proven yourself to be faithful to God?  How far should our faithfulness go?

In our materialistic American culture we have a very distorted view of wealth.  We limit our definition of wealth to money and possessions.  But Jesus’ words to the church in Smyrna reveal there is much more to consider.  Jesus looked through their afflictions and poverty and declared, “Yet you are rich!”  How could this be?  True wealth is not found in bank accounts and boats.  It is found in our relationship with God.

While Jesus’ words brought encouragement (“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer”), they also expressed the reality of difficulty (“you will suffer persecution for ten days”).  In fact, Jesus called on the church to be “faithful, even to the point of death.”  How far will your faithfulness go?  Jesus said this in Luke 16:10: “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.”  We have the opportunity to be found faithful every day.