God of all days, as the days of 2010 wind down, bless and protect the life and needs of this dear reader; in Christ Jesus I pray, amen.
Our text for today comes from the last book, Revelation 21: 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." 5 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." 6 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.
The holidays are a difficult time for those who have recently lost loved ones. Christmas is not the same and the start of the New Year is not the same. This text speaks to that, for in it John the Apostle was taken to see the realm no one sees until their death and he was instructed to write all that he saw and heard. The vision was one that amazed him and should amaze us as we read it. All the old things have passed away and in their place new ones. Heaven and earth gone, as is the sea, and this is theologically significant, for those who remember the passage in Micah 7:19, "He will again have compassion upon us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea." No more sin. Gone.
Then there is a marriage between us, the Church, and Christ. Then the promise of God living among us, wiping every tear from our eyes, Death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be gone, and the promise of Jesus Himself, that He is "the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end." Christ always with us.
As we end this year, we do so with the hope and promises of God in this passage and we turn our eyes towards God. The hymnwriter said, "We don't know what tomorrow holds, but we know Who holds tomorrow."
PRAYER: Loving God, hold me tight! Hold me during the good and bad as You did during this past year, but give me the hope and peace I need to know You are with me and holding me as we start this New Year. Bless and protect my loved ones and me; I ask this in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
