It said, “Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” - Revelation 1:11
To whom did John write from his island of exile? He wrote to ordinary people who were connected to him because he was connected to Jesus. The Jesus connection is a marvelous thing!
Someone led Janet Smith to Christ. She got sick and was taken to the hospital in the town where I was a student. When I, too, got sick and was taken to the same hospital, I was wheeled down a long corridor by a starched lady with a grim face and laid neatly in a bed beside Janet Smith. And Janet led me to Christ. Soon after I got better and went back to college, Penny, a freshman, became my “little sister.” As her “big sister,” my responsibility was to look after her. I did—I led her to Christ! Penny grew in God, and the next year, she led her “little sister” to Christ.
This is what the Jesus connection is—a network of blessing, an intriguing mystery that will all be explained one day. But till then, the joy of being part of it all is enough. Whoever and wherever you are, you can be part of it, too! John didn’t let the fact that he was isolated worry him. When he was able to travel and preach, he did; when he couldn’t do that anymore, he found a way to continue as God’s special agent in the Jesus connection—he picked up his pen and papyrus and went right on with his work!
For Further Study: Revelation 1:1-11
Excerpted from The One Year Devotions for Women, Copyright ©2000 by Jill Briscoe. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers. All rights reserved.
For more from Jill Briscoe, please visit TellingtheTruth.org.
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