Devotion:
For an audio version of this devotion, click here.
Read Revelation 19:11-16.
This scene is very dramatic and perhaps a bit scary – a rider in a white robe dipped in blood, riding on a white horse. He is followed by riders, all in pure white and also riding on white horses. The leader presents a fearsome image, with a sword coming from his mouth. Reminiscent of some of the language in the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” the rider treads the winepress of the wrath of God. Then we see the name of the rider, “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” …this is Jesus Christ! When we hear this name sung in Handel’s “Messiah,” we think of royalty, power, and might. In this image in today’s passage, we see it in the context of punishment and destruction. Should we fear him?
No, not at all! The Emperor of Rome and all those who forced people to worship him seemed to Christians at that time to be all-powerful, but Jesus is about to destroy those who insisted on worshiping the emperor. This is a symbolic way of showing the beginning of the end. God wins and evil is destroyed! We have nothing to fear, so long as we indeed see Christ as our king and the lord of our lives.
Personal Worship Option:
If Christ is our king and our lord, we subject our will to His. Think about what part of your life you may be holding back, insisting on your will. Pray for the faith to submit all you have and are to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
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