The first and the last

Then the one who sits on the throne said, ‘And now I make all things new!’ He also said to me, ‘Write this, because these words are true and can be trusted.’ And he said, ‘It is done! I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end. To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life without paying for it. Those who win the victory will receive this from me: I will be their God, and they will be my children.’  (verses 5-7)

Read Revelation 21:1-8

The complete makeover! Not just face and clothes, not just house and garden, but everything! God promises that he will ‘make all things new’ – ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ (Revelation 21:1).
All the things we get caught up in – having to prove ourselves, coping with all we have to do, our worries and excitements, these are not the bottom line, the ultimate reality. God says, ‘Get a life – my life!’ He says, ‘I am the first and the last, the beginning and the end’.

Are you thirsting for meaning and reality, do you want to win the victory over all the problems and hassles and distractions? God says, ‘To anyone who is thirsty I will give the right to drink from the spring of the water of life…I will be their God, and they will be my children’. Death and grief and pain will be banished. God himself will live with you, and he will wipe away all tears from your eyes. He promises!

Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful promise of new life with you forever. Keep me looking forward to it. Amen.

by David Schubert, in ‘God’s Peace for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2005)

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