To Him Who Overcomes

Now this is interesting.  Never caught this nuance before.  I am reading Revelation, one of the most cryptic books of the Bible in my opinion.  You have Jesus revealing a vision or prophecy to the Apostle John. 

Here is what I never noticed before.  Look at what is highlighted. 

Revelation 2:7(NKJV)

7“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’

Revelation 2:11(NKJV)

11“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’

Revelation 2:17(NKJV)

17“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’

Revelation 2:26(NKJV)

26And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—

What caught my eye about that was the word overcome.  Overcome is a verb.  It caught my eye for a couple of reasons.  First, here we have Scripture telling us in general that people who are overcomers are rewarded and I think we can safely conclude from this that people who give up aren't rewarded. 
 

More importantly though is here we have Jesus describing our salvation as something admirable that we do.  Our salvation would be impossible without Jesus but Jesus seems to be pointing out that our salvation would be equally impossible without us making a decision and asking Jesus to come into our lives.  He will never force it on us.  It's that whole free will thing.

But what exactly does overcome mean?

overcome

1. to get the better of in a struggle or conflict; conquer; defeat:

to overcome the enemy.

2.  to prevail over (opposition, a debility, temptations, etc.); surmount:

to overcome one's weaknesses.

3.  to overpower or overwhelm in body or mind, as does liquor, a drug, exertion, or emotion:

I was overcome with grief.

4.  Archaic. to overspread or overrun.

verb (used without object), overcame, overcome, overcoming.

5.  to gain the victory; win; conquer:

a plan to overcome by any means possible.

Pasted from <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/overcome>

Why would accepting Jesus be described as overcoming?  Isn't that a bit of a stretch?  I mean all you have to do is ask.  While that is true I would suggest that many people encounter a lot of opposition before they accept Christ.  Look at definition number one.  Overcoming the enemy.  Doesn't that say it all?  When you ask Jesus into your life you are defeating or overcoming Satan.  That's pretty awesome. 

Have you asked Jesus into your life yet?  If not why not?  What is holding you back?  Isn't it time to become an overcomer?  Just have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

One last thing.  I think that asking Jesus into your life is just the beginning of being an overcomer.  I believe that is an attitude we are supposed to live out for Jesus the rest of our lives!