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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. I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 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. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations. But nothing unclean will enter it, nor anyone who practises abomination or falsehood, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 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 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. 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; they will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 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 for ever and ever. (Rev. 21:10, 22-22:5)
Country singer Pat Green wrote and sings a song called Songs About Texas. It has my favorite lyric in it. "Some day I hope to walk along Heaven's street, and I'll still be looking for my taco meat." It fits this way in the stanza: "Well it's nothing short of the gospel hymns, I guess that's why folks keep writing 'em; when I die, I want to go there too, some day I hope to walk along heaven's street, and I'll still be looking for my taco meat and I swear I hear a steel guitar rising in the air." This may not be your description of heaven, but that may prove you're not from Texas... just kidding.
The Apostle John's description of heaven is shared in today's passage. It shows the all encompassing love of God to care and bless His redeemed. The place of worship will be heaven itself; there will be no need for a temple. The glory of God will be light enough for all to see, for the sun and the moon will no longer need to shine on us. The gates of heaven will never be closed during night, for there will no longer be night. The descriptions of the streets and the trees, rivers, etc., all show the glory of God. But it is also a reminder that we have work to do. There are some on our street that may not make it. There may even be some in our church that may not make it. Someone, like you or I, has to tell them of God's love. We have to work to have heaven-like conditions here on earth for all people, but also the desire to get everyone who accepts, into a loving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. And yes, to get as many people to heaven as we can; whether there's taco meat or not.
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for your love. We thank You for the role John played in sharing this awesome vision with us. Help me in what I have to do. Let me be faithful. This I pray in Christ Jesus my Lord, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
