Focus

Stop and thank God for being present with you today. Ask for God’s guidance as you hear God’s voice through scripture and the writer.

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Read

Revelation 21:5-14 (NRSV)

And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the polluted, the murderers, the fornicators, the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal. It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites; on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

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Reflect

Revelation confuses me. Or maybe it is just the people who have tried to interpret it to me that confuse me. Either way, I always gravitate to the passages that I “get.” This passage has my favorite descriptions of the New Jerusalem: God will dwell with mortals and will wipe away every tear from our eyes. There will no longer be any death, any mourning, or crying, or pain…“I am making all things new.” “To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life.” These are among the passages that remind me that the Book of Revelation is good news for those who love God and know Christ as Lord and Savior. I may not understand about angels with bowls full of plagues, I may not be able to imagine the New Jerusalem descending from heaven, but I understand that God has a plan to create something new and wonderful to demonstrate great love to humankind.

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Pray

Our God, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and End, I offer you glory and praise today and every day. I welcome the New Jerusalem and the completion of your plan for our world. Help me to do something today that brings the world closer to what you would have it be. Amen.

Go with God.