This past Sunday right before I preached I checked my distractions, that is to say I checked FaceBook and saw a posting by my youngest sister who reminded me that on that day, ten years ago, our mother died. My first thought was "Just what I needed to remember right before taking the pulpit and preaching," but then I thought, this is what it's all about! I preach a living God, a God of life, who made death a part of life that brings us ultimate healing from pain and suffering. Yes, I was sad missing my Mom, but I was thankful for the words from God's Word about life eternal.
This passage is precisely about that. There are key images and references in it to what we believe. All things will be made new. God will be our Temple. The glory of God will be the light of a never-ending day. Purity will be present and evil will be forbidden from entering. Those whose names are in the book of life will be allowed in. There will be water of life. The tree of life will be there; its leaves for the healing of the nations. Jesus will sit on the throne and His name shall be on our foreheads. No more night. Life forever and ever.
I preach a God who wants this to start now. The logical place is of course, our lives and it should carry over to our homes, and you might even think it would make it all the way to our places of worship (churches). Yet, there is much to do. We need to look beyond ourselves to God, Who looks beyond the pews and carpets and stained windows to those whose lives are hurting and hungry for knowing what and Who we know. Any other thing that we undertake that does not take this into account is just for naught.
PRAYER: Living God, may we seek You and what You would have us do. This we pray in Jesus' precious name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
By the way here's today's text: Revelation 21:10 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.22 I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practices abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 2 through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 3 Nothing accursed will be found there any more. But the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him; 4 they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
