John Bradshaw - Myrrh
Jesus letter to the church Smyrna takes on a new relevance when you consider where the name "Smyrna" comes from. It's based on the word myrrh, one of the gifts brought to baby Jesus by the wise men. It was used as a perfume for incense and for medicine.
Myrrh is extracted from a tree as a resin, and it's extracted when the tree is wounded, causing the resin to flow out. Wounding the tree results in something valuable, something desirable being produced.
Jesus told the church of Smyrna they would be persecuted, but then said to them, "Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life", Revelation 2:10.
There are evidently worse things than dying. Living without Jesus, and then dying the second, eternal death is far worse. Be like myrrh: let your suffering produce something beautiful in your life. I'm John Bradshaw, for It Is Written.