The Best Party Ever
Revelation 7:15-17 RSV
"Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night within his temple; and he who sits upon the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water; and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
1 John 5:11-13 NASB
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
I can’t think of a better gift to give someone than to tell them the Good News of Jesus Christ! And what a gift! What better encouragement to offer our brothers and sisters than to remind them of the promise of life in heaven with our precious, merciful, beautiful God?
Any superlative you can call to mind; any description of perfection you can speak; anything you can imagine of beauty, love, peace, comfort and joy -- that’s what heaven will be like -- only a million times better! Believing that, knowing it is so, how can we help but tell those we love the truth?! Whether all the revelations, descriptions, foretellings, predictions are literal or figurative . . . it doesn’t matter--the point is it will be better than you can imagine!
How can we help but strive to be the best people we are able to be? How can we help but live a life that reflects our efforts at worshipping the one who won this gift for us? There is one way to this perfection. That way is the way of the cross. We rejoice in that, because what follows is the resurrection -- and we will be a part of the “next” resurrection one day.
So when we wish others a Merry Christmas, we really mean we are inviting them to the birthday party of the ages! We really mean, because of Christ we will all have peace one day. And God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
My prayer today is that you will remember what Merry Christmas is really about! And that you’ll others to the party!
Mary
