“Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter” (Revelation 10:10).
A decision to internalize God’s Word may produce some bitter experiences, just as our author discovered in the passage quoted above. The same may be true of anyone who seeks to read the Biblical Scriptures and act upon them. For instance, consider the following message from Jesus to His followers and the crowds who gathered to hear his teachings…
“Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, ‘If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it'” (Mark 8:34-35 NLT).
This portion of Scripture begins with an open invitation from Jesus to those who wish to follow Him. Jesus conveyed that invitation as follows: “Whoever wants to be my disciple…” (NIV). This tells us that the path to discipleship is open to anyone without qualification. Nevertheless, that decision carries a price. The New King James translation of this passage calculates that price for us: “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
“Denying yourself” and “taking up your cross” are two demanding, but essential characteristics of genuine discipleship. First, “denying yourself” is an act that demands humility. It requires us to abandon the single-minded pursuit of our personal interests and subordinate them to Christ. It also means that we can no longer allow “what’s best for me?” to guide our life philosophy. Instead, we must be willing to substitute Jesus’ priorities for our priorities as we navigate the circumstances of life.
The phrase “taking up your cross” points to the rejection, intolerance, opposition, and/or persecution that all true followers of Christ experience to greater or lesser degrees. As Jesus once remarked in speaking of end-times events, “… everyone will hate you because you are mine. But all who endure to the end without renouncing me shall be saved” (Mark 13:13 TLB).
That parallels our author’s bitter experience here in Revelation 10:9. However, Jesus also left us with a sweeter aspect to consider as well: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33 NIV).