Choose Testimony

“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11

                It has been said before, and I will say again: the decisions we make, make us.  Choices, they are the brush by which the depiction of our life is painted onto the canvas of time.  It is the choices that we make in this life which determine who we are and who we become.  If you have nothing else, you have a right to choice.  As we live, as we choose, by and by a pattern is made; a picture painted, and a testimony left: both in word and in deed.

              

            In the Old Testament, the Jews had the ark of the testimony, also known as the Ark of the Covenant.  The ark of testimony was one of, if not the most sacred item in Jewish culture.  It was basically a VERY nice golden box with two angels on top of it, and places where you could put long staves through; because they were not allowed to touch it.  Within that ark rested Aaron’s rod that budded, manna from heaven, and the Ten Commandments.  These sanctified items were handpicked by God to remain in the ark because they represented what God was, and what God had done for them.  They symbolized: the power of God, the provision of God, and the law of God.  The ark and the items in the ark, consistently and constantly, served as a testimony to glorify God.  The ark was holy and sanctified: where the ark went, the glory of God went.  The Jews would carry the ark with them; they would literally carry around their testimony.

By and by, Solomon built a magnificent temple which became the epicenter of Jewish religion and a home for the ark.  For, within the center of that temple was a Holiest of Holies, and within that room; the ark of testimony.  There it sat and there it remained down through the ages, a testimony to the Jewish people of what God had done for them and what he was to them.  However it was not permanent, and it was not meant for forever; when Jesus came he changed everything (per God’s plan).  He took testimony and made it personal.  He changed it from; what God did for them, to, what God can do for you.  For all that the old law was, ultimately it was weak through the flesh.  It did not bring victory, it did not offer deliverance.  You could be in the presence of God, but you could not have the presence of God in you.  The testimony was forever without and not within.  Jesus came to change all that, he brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.  He bought and paid for your possibility at a personal testimony with his own blood.  You can have an Ark of Testimony within you; within your very being.  The power, provision, and law of God can live within your heart, and the witness of his glory flow from your very lips.  This is made possible all because of Jesus.

             

  The decisions we make, make us; the choices we make, define us.  We all, weather we want to believe it or not, have an adversary who is actively and constantly working to damn our souls.  He doesn’t want you to choose Jesus, he doesn’t want you to turn your life over to him and “love not your life until death.”  He doesn’t want you to have a testimony and leave a testimony, to overcome.  We can choose the world and choose ourselves, we can leave that testimony; or we can choose Jesus.  We can leave a testimony of the power, provision, and law of life.  We can leave a testimony that we overcame; and overcame by Christ.