Devotion:
Read Revelation 21:1-4.
As a pastor, I have read these verses many times standing in a cemetery. I was helping a family and friends say goodbye to someone they love and reminding them that this was not the end of their relationship with this person. We will see them again.
I remind all of us that in the last book of the Bible we get a vision of what is to come. Much is packed just in these four verses. God is completing the new creation. I take note that “there was no longer any sea.” In the early Biblical stories, the sea was the place of chaos, so this note assures us that the chaos we so often experience in this world will be no more. And it is so reassuring and comforting to know that there is coming a time and place when “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…” But the verse that gives me the most anticipation and hope is verse three, where we are reminded that God will dwell with us, which is what God has been seeking to do since we messed up the first Creation.
All of this vision reminds us of what God’s kingdom is about in the present, not just the future. Yes, it will be completed in the future, but we are invited to be representatives of it and live it as best we can in the present. We can let people know that God seeks to be with them in their life right now. We can do all we can to wipe away the tears and mourning of those around us right now. You and I can live a line we often pray together: “Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” Amen.
Personal Worship Option:
Who do you know who is going through a time of pain or grief that you can come alongside and represent God’s loving presence?
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