New Names and White Stones

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.”’ Rev. 2:17


That was my reading this morning. It was one of those times when part of a verse jumps out at me, and I keep thinking about it. I like the personalization that is implied here; God will give me a stone that has my name on it, and I'll be the only one who understands what it says. That part is a little confusing. What could possibly be written on my stone? But at the same time it's exciting to get a glimpse of how much more personal I can get with my Lord. There are some things I only share with Him, and I need to work on building more of those special things into our conversations. 


The other neat thing about this verse is what I learned from the footnotes (thank you Grandpa John, aka John MacArthur :D ) Here's what it says: When an athlete won in the games, he was often given, as a part of his prize, a white stone which was an admission pass to the winner's celebration afterwards. This may picture the moment when the overcomer will receive his ticket to the  eternal victory celebration in heaven. (The MacArthur Study Bible, c1997 by Word Publishing, a div. of Thomas Nelson, Inc.)


So that's what I discovered today. 


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This week was....amazing. My professors are great, everything I'm learning is pertinent and interesting, and to top it all off, I'm surrounded by music and people my age 24/7. I love it.


Today I need to do all my homework that's leftover, go shopping with my friends (yay!), and practiiiiiiice. A lot. 


First up is lunch. I love the food here. It's really good and there's plenty of variety. Thank goodness, because it's expensive. 


Over and out!