Heavenly Worship

Posted on by korgrocker

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honour and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭4:9-11‬ NLT

We have reached the final three verses, that bring Revelation chapter four to a close. Once again the Apostle John writes down what he saw. But we mustn’t forget that there is probably a disconnect between what was actually happening in Heaven and what he saw. His glimpse through Heaven’s open door was being filtered by his human lens of understanding. John was given an incredible revelation, and we earlier read in Revelation 1:19 that he was told to write it down. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he translated the vision that he was given into a form and language that his, and subsequent, generations would understand. 

So we read again that when the living beings gave “glory and honour and thanks”  to God, it prompted an act of worship from the twenty four elders. But what sort of picture does this give us? The verses start with the word “Whenever”, implying that every now and then the living beings initiated something. But John didn’t say how often this happened. So before we conjure up in our minds a cartoon-like repetition of strange looking beings and twenty four elders bobbing about we must pause to think this through. 

We pilgrims must all pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to understand what was going on. Firstly, I would say that the worship, so willingly acted out by the living beings and the twenty four elders, was spontaneous because God never created automatons. Secondly we must remember that there is no time, as we understand it, in Heaven. Thirdly, in some way incomprehensible to us humans, the worship in Heaven was continuous and at an intensity that consumed the worshippers. They desired nothing else, because they had finally arrived at a place of complete understanding of who God is, with a continual and spontaneous worship response resulting.

Of course, God never needs the worship of His creation. But in a way, incomprehensible to any but his committed followers, the worship of God is unstoppable and eternal. I’m writing this in the late Spring here in Scotland and the vegetation in the local woods has exploded into a created mass of greenery, stretching up as though to get close to their Creator. The birds are singing their hearts out. There is an excitement present that can only be interpreted as worship of the Creator.

To us pilgrims, worship of God is, or should be, an integral part of who we are. When we pause at Calvary and think through the implications of what Jesus did for us, how can we not respond in worship? By a long way we fail to understand why God loved the world so much, but He did, and that incudes each one of us. The credibility gap between the omnipresent Creator and the insignificance of His creation has to invoke worship. Nothing else is possible or even comes close to what God deserves.

Dear Lord God. How can we thank You enough for all You have done for us. We are a truly privileged people, and we fall to our knees this morning in worship. Amen.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Posted on by korgrocker

“In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the centre and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:6-8‬ ‭NLT

The living beings spent day and night calling out about God’s holiness in worship. May God forgive us if we take what they were doing as being boring, as a pointless and repetitive act of telling everyone present what they already knew. We need to unpack and discern what they were saying. The clue is with the eyes. The living being’s eyes were not only capable of seeing what was around them in their “now” but they could also see everything about God – who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. 

The reference to day after day and night after night perhaps indicates an eternal act. The living beings, some think, were angels or seraphim with a special role. They were immortal, created that way, and with the mental capacity to fully understand all that God was capable of. As an aside, satan too was an immortal being; he was one of the most important beings in Heaven and was ejected because of his pride and rebellion. Some think he was Heaven’s principle musician and worship leader, and there are a few clues from the prophecies in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 13. So the living beings were responsible for what was one of the most important tasks in Heaven – leading the worship of our amazing God. 

The living beings started their song of worship with the repetition of the word “Holy”. The significance of it being sung or spoken three times emphasised how important it was. God’s holiness is interwoven into the very substance of Heaven, and the unholy will have no place there. For eternity the eyes of the living beings will see all, and God’s holiness is apparent. And they finish their song with a reference to God’s eternal presence. It is a difficult and problematic thought for time-bound people, the thought that God has always existed. And these immortal beings had within them, I believe, the knowledge of all that God had ever done and is yet to accomplish. With all that knowledge, what else can they do than praise and worship God?

The worship of God somehow connects our spirits with the Spirit of God. So we worship God privately in our prayer closets and again in our churches and fellowships. Like the living beings, we must never stop worshipping Him. And it’s not just an action of prayer or singing a song. Worship involves all we are and what we do. Living a life of worship connects us continually with our wonderful and amazing Heavenly Father.

Dear Lord God. What else can we do but worship You, the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe. We join the living beings in the Spirit today, deeply grateful for all You have done and for who You are. Amen.

The Seraphim

Posted on by korgrocker

“In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the centre and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come.””
‭Revelation‬ ‭4:6-8‬ ‭NLT

John saw, in his vision, four living beings. He couldn’t really work out what they were but he managed to find enough similarities to associate them with earthly creatures. He could see features he identified with a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle. But there the similarities ended. 

We must pause for a moment, to reflect on what is really happening. God graciously gave John a glimpse through a door into Heaven, which is a place we will only be eligible to enter once we have left our earthly lives. It’s perhaps a place we can consider as being like a parallel universe from a science fiction novel, but, most importantly, it has a spiritual basis, which provides us with quite a few ideas about Heaven. So John was seeing a spiritual environment, a world if you like, through a human, earth-bound, lens. A bit like a translator hearing someone speak one language, and then translating it to another. The translation can be straightforward while on familiar and simple linguistic grounds, but the translator will start to struggle when ideas or strange concepts are needing to be communicated.

So, bearing that in mind, we have four living beings. Two Old Testament prophets, Ezekiel and Isaiah, also had a glimpse of them. We read in Ezekiel 1:10-12, “Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back. Each had two pairs of outstretched wings—one pair stretched out to touch the wings of the living beings on either side of it, and the other pair covered its body. They went in whatever direction the spirit chose, and they moved straight forward in any direction without turning around.” And in Isaiah 6:2, “Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.” So these living beings were perhaps angels, the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision, with a special job to do. They were, in this glimpse, leading Heaven in the worship of God and His Son Jesus. 

What do we pilgrims make of all this? I suppose we can only continue to marvel as we try to get our human minds around the Heavenly vision. But one thing we mustn’t do is to discard these verses and ignore or reject them as being irrelevant. They are are included in the Bible for a reason. And one day what that is will be revealed.

Dear Heavenly Father. As we unfold these pages in Revelation, we pray that You help us understand what is there. We thank You for Your love and care, helping us in our daily walk towards our Heavenly home. Amen.

Living Beings

Posted on by korgrocker

“In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the centre and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:6-8‬ ‭NLT

The complexities of the vision of Heaven continue to unfold before John. He now notices that there is a “shiny sea of glass” before God’s throne. Not any old glass – to John, the effect was as if it was made of crystal and it sparkles, glinting away in the lights that emanate from and around the throne. Perhaps John’s view was tempered by his constant view of the sea around Patmos, the island where he was exiled. A sea sparkling in the sunlight. But he was aware that the crystal sea was something special. John revealed what he thought he saw and he made a stab at describing it, but what was it really? Another feature of Heaven beyond our understanding?

But we now come to the four living beings. They were beyond anything that John had ever seen or experienced, but he tried his best to describe what they looked like. He doesn’t say how big they were, but getting a meaningful perspective in what his glimpse of Heaven revealed would have been difficult without any reference points. But he managed to pick out similarities with earthly creatures. And the first thing that grabbed his attention was that they were covered in eyes. Front and back. We humans have two eyes, and a brain that can process the images we see to provide information about what we are seeing, and with two eyes giving us a stereoscopic, 3D, view of life around us. But imagine what is required when there are so many eyes. Now I know that many insects have compound eyes, giving them images different to our single eyes. But somehow I think that this is different. These beings were in a different league to anything we know or understand on Planet Earth. These beings could see anything, and they had the mental processing power to deal with what they saw. Absolutely fascinating and amazing. 

Back to us pilgrims, standing in John’s shoes, mouths hanging open as the enormity of what John saw starts to sink in. Many people avoid Revelation because it contains images and events that disturbs their world. The thought that there is a real place containing so much that they don’t understand makes them feel uncomfortable. But we pilgrims know we have a loving Heavenly Father, who made us in His image. Spiritually, God placed within us the prerequisites for our lives in Heaven, and has given us the opportunity to connect with Him through His Son, Jesus. We will join Him one day, and what we don’t understand will be explained. In Heaven, our praise and worship of God will be interlaced with our wows of discovery and delight. Heaven will be an amazing place.

Dear Lord God. How can we thank You enough. You have placed Your Spirit within us to help us and prepare us for a life with You. Please forgive us for our waywardness and lack of faith. Amen.

Flashes and Rumbles

Posted on by korgrocker

“From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God.”
Revelation‬ ‭4:5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

John’s field of vision becomes more focused as other features in his revelation are revealed. This is a place unbounded by the limitations of human sight and hearing, because John is in the spirit. He is seeing and hearing things that would be invisible to humans. So in the Spirit, the “flashes of lightning” would have been incredibly bright and powerful, far greater than the flashes we see on Planet Earth, should that even be possible. Perhaps with the inclusion of spectacular colours never before seen in a lightning flash. And they originated from the throne of God. The “rumble of thunder” too would have encompassed a range of frequencies totally beyond human comprehension. In our smartphone-dominated world, we are used to hearing sounds through tiny loudspeakers, where only a narrow range of frequencies can be transmitted. But what a difference there is, hearing the same sounds but in an auditorium with a professional sound system. The bass end of the spectrum will be felt as well as heard, with vibrations manifested in every part of our beings. That was John’s experience. In the spirit he was exposed to light and sound he had never experienced before. 

In front of God’s throne appeared seven burning torches. Flaming noticeably. And John intuitively knew that this is the “sevenfold Spirit of God”. We have twice before, in the early chapters of Revelation, encountered this image and can refer back to Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 11:2. The image too refers to the number seven, often used in Scripture to signify perfection or completeness. 

We pilgrims will often have difficulty in relating this vision to our work-a-day world. That is, until we too connect “in the Spirit”. What vision of God and His domain, whether here on earth or in Heaven do we hold? It is generally more difficult to hold on to our faith without some idea, picture even, of where we are heading. This vision of the Apostle John in Revelation grabs and intrigues our imaginations. It encourages us to think “outside the box” beyond our natural boundaries. And if, in times of need, we ask God for a vision to support our own faiths He will be gracious and help. Jesus gave John an amazing revelation of the future, and he faithfully recorded it for posterity. But the most important vision of all starts at Calvary, with the Son of God hanging on a Roman cross, dying for us, that we too can one day check out Heaven for ourselves. If we ask Him.

Dear Lord. We thank You for Calvary and selflessly sacrificing Yourself for each one of us. We are so grateful. And I pray that we all hold on to the mental pictures we have of Calvary, pictures and visions that are only superseded by the excitement of Easter Sunday. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Elders

Posted on by korgrocker

“Twenty-four thrones surrounded Him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.”
Revelation‬ ‭4:4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

John’s vision expands, as though he was seeing through a lens with an increasing field of view. And he sees thrones and people sat on them. The scene’s detail is such that he can count the number of thrones. And he notices that each of the people who were sitting on the thrones – he calls them elders – were wearing white with gold crowns on their heads. The fact that he could identify them as being elders in the church must have meant he had some extra-visionary revelation, something that allowed him to identify them. So we must ask ourselves why were they there, was there anything significant about the number twenty four, and why were they dressed that way.

The easy answer is – we don’t know. But there are perhaps a few hints. Taking the crown first, the Apostle Paul said we would receive a crown of righteousness one day. In 2 Timothy 4:8 we read, “in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing”. James takes up the same theme in James 1:12, referring to a crown of life. There are also several Old Testament references to crowns. So we shouldn’t be puzzled if we receive a crown when we get to Heaven. And it will be a presentation to us from Jesus Himself (think about receiving an honour from the British Queen, a knighthood or something – it will be an infinitely greater occasion than that!). 

And then we have the white clothes. References to white garments appear throughout the Book of Revelation, so I think white is the colour (is white a colour?) that will be almost ubiquitous in Heaven. It signifies purity, and is the opposite to the devil’s favourite – a black darkness. Jesus promised the church in Sardis clothes of white if they overcame what was holding them back in their faith. The words of Jesus in Revelation 3:5, “He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments…”. Another enigmatic Scripture that comes to mind is from Isaiah 1:18, “Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.” 1 John 1:7 reads, “But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin”. When we repent of our sins and believe in faith that Jesus shed His blood for us, then our sins are washed away and we are left white and pure. 

So why were there twenty four elders and why were they sitting on thrones surrounding God’s throne? We don’t really know for sure, though theologians over the centuries have tried to come up with a few theories. But I’m wondering if the “24” refers to the universality and inclusiveness of the Gospel. God’s grace extends both to the twelve tribes of Israel and to everyone else, non-Jews represented by the second twelve. 1 Corinthians 12:13-14 reads, “For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body – whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. And so the body is not made up of one part but of many”. 

So to today’s pilgrims, this glimpse into Heaven showing the twenty four elders, and reveals the importance of perseverance, because there awaits for each one of us a personalised reward, and an eternity close to God’s throne. We won’t all be elders I’m sure but there will be a role for each one of us, as eternity plays out in boundless lives of purity. 

Dear Lord. Thank You once again for this glimpse inside Heaven, Please help us to keep our final goal, our final home, firmly in our sights. Amen.

Gemstones

Posted on by korgrocker

“The One sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled His throne like a rainbow.”
Revelation‬ ‭4:3‬ ‭NLT

John’s glimpse through the door of Heaven must have been amazing. Apparently just inside the door was a throne, and his eyes fixed, as far as they were able, on the Person sitting there, a Person who must have been God. And this is where his ability to communicate what he saw started to struggle. The only way he could make sense of the vision was to compare it with precious stones. And shining through those stones was light. Lots of it. Making them glow and sparkle with a brilliance almost too bright to bear. John, a one time fisherman, would not have had ready access to precious stones but he must have been knowledgeable enough to know what they were.

What about these precious stones? Jasper is a naturally occurring, silicate based, piece of quartz, that can be found in several different colours, caused by whatever minerals were in its presence when it was formed. So we have red, yellow, green, occasionally blue, stones with manifestations of streaks or spots. It is translucent but not clear. Apparently, it may have been two of the gemstones included on the Old Testament Jewish High Priest’s breastplate. Carnelian is another naturally occurring, silica based mineral, coloured with varying amounts of iron oxide that give it colours extending from pale yellow to the deepest reds. Again, it was a translucent, rather than clear, semi-precious stone much used for jewellery. It was also the first stone on the High Priest’s breastplate.

So we get the picture of God’s appearance to John as being like these gemstones, multicoloured and with an extremely bright light source behind them, so bright that it made God glow with a presence and appearance formed by the gemstones. God’s appearance must have been substantial enough for John to recognise who He was – it wasn’t just an amorphous blob he saw – but like nothing on earth that he had ever seen before. I think of the quartz pebbles commonly found on Scottish beaches – they are white and semi-translucent and, when held up to the light, pass enough of it through to make them glow. But with Heavenly light behind them they would have been transformed into something else altogether.  But John did his best to describe what he saw. Imagine the difficulty someone would have describing a mobile smartphone a century ago to their next door neighbour. Much of the description would be incomprehensible because the knowledge would not have been there to describe 5G communication, digital data, Apps for messaging and so on. Even batteries, so powerful and small, would have been a marvel. John saw something no man had seen before, through that Heavenly door – one day we too will get a chance to see it.

Finally, John described the glow of an emerald. This is another silicate based gemstone. There are often inclusions of minerals introducing flaws in the stone, but sometimes emeralds can be clear and flawless, with a greenish colour. But an emerald does not glow on its own, so again the light source behind it would have made it appear to glow. This would have been a special light, perhaps combined with the physical form of the emerald, making all the colours of the rainbow encircle the throne. 

So what does a modern pilgrim make of all this? Well, this initial glimpse precedes a rolling exposure of Heaven, which we will see in the coming weeks, as Jesus and His servant angels reveal this wonderful place to John. In reality, I think Heaven will be amazing. I’m sure John only got a glimpse of a fraction of it – it will be incomprehensible to a human being. Through the grace of God, John received a revelation, a hint, of what Heaven will be like. But here’s the thing – there will be many pilgrims there. Let’s make sure we will be in their company.

Dear Lord. We know Heaven will be a wonderful place because You live there. Please help us on our journeys, as we draw nearer and nearer to be with You. Amen.

Heaven’s Door

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” And instantly I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne in heaven and Someone sitting on it.”
Revelation‬ ‭4:1-2‬ ‭NLT

In our pilgrimage through the book of Revelation, we now find ourselves in chapter 4. The messages to the seven churches are behind us, and now Jesus wants to show John something else. He wants to give John a glimpse of that is inside this place we call Heaven. A door opens. And a very loud voice, sounding to him like a “trumpet blast“, grabs John’s attention. Why a “trumpet blast”? In those days it would have been a common way of grabbing people’s attention, at least those who were out and about in the market places or the town square. So it would have certainly grabbed John’s attention, particularly as it was from what seemed to be a speaking trumpet. A trumpet wasn’t the only way God spoke to mankind. God’s voice sounded like thunder in John 12:28-29, “Father, bring glory to your name.” Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him”. In 1 Kings 19:12, Elijah heard a still small voice, a whisper. In Psalm 18:13, God’s voice was accompanied by natural events, “The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals”. 

But I was thinking about today – our lifestyles don’t tend to revolve around public places, so how would God grab our attention today? I don’t know, but what I do know is that God will tailor-make a way of grabbing the attention of those who want to listen. As we see in the John 12 verse, some interpreted the voice of God as thunder. Others as the voice of an angel. We hear what we want to hear because we have a tendency to try and rationalise things we don’t expect or understand. If the sacrifice of God’s Son on a Roman cross at Calvary doesn’t grab the world’s attention and get a response, then I don’t think people are listening. Jesus ended each of the messages to the seven churches with the verse, “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches”. 

John received an incredible invitation from Jesus. He opened Heaven’s door for John and invited him to join Him there. What a privilege. But what a responsibility. Don’t forget that John was languishing in a prison cell, in exile on the island of Patmos. We know it was the Lord’s Day and John was lost in worship. Little did he know that day that he would be invited to join Jesus in Heaven. John was instantly transported into a spiritual world. Prison cell and exile forgotten. And he received a glimpse as he peeped through the door of Someone, of God probably, sat on his throne.

What else John saw in Heaven unfolds in the Revelation pages. And it’s quite a story!

Dear Lord. We thank You that there is nothing dull in a relationship with You. Please help us to get so lost in worship to You that we too get lost in a Heavenly place. And I’m sure the things of the world will go dim in comparison. Thank You Lord. Amen.

Knocking the Door

Posted on by korgrocker

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends. Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne. Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.” 
Revelation 3:20-22 NLT

Jesus continued with His message to the Laodiceans. He never gave up on them. Even though they had apparently turned their backs on Him. He gave them this picture of someone knocking at the main door of their houses. Knocking. And knocking. And He calls through the door, reassuring those inside of Who is knocking. Asking them to open the door. 

There is a famous painting by an artist called William Hunt that depicts a rather sad looking Jesus, carrying a lantern, knocking at a decrepit-looking door, surrounded by weeds. Obviously it hasn’t been opened for a while. The image captures the message, that Jesus won’t enter unless the person inside opens the door. And so it was for the Laodiceans. In the verses today, we are told that Jesus wanted to join them for a meal, a meal enjoyed by friends together. Sadly, those inside had become spiritually deaf and may not have heard either the knock or the voice.

Jesus continued by reminding the Laodiceans that if they overcame the troubles and problems before them, honing up their faith, keeping His commandments, dealing with their sins, standing firm when persecuted, then they, as His victorious followers, could join Him on His throne. Just like He joined His Father after He conquered satan at the cross (Hebrews 12:2). 

Anything here of consequence to today’s pilgrims? Quite a bit actually. Revelation 3:20 is a verse that has been much used in evangelism, but the context in this chapter is for something different. It speaks of God’s incredible grace, in pursuing His children even when they have turned their backs on Him, preferring to go their own ways in life. And even when we slam the door to our hearts in His face, He will still remain outside, knocking, and knocking, calling us. What love! What grace! So to any pilgrim reading this today, and who perhaps feel they are not good enough to be in God’s presence, I would encourage them to listen. Can you hear the knocking? Can you hear the voice of Jesus? No? Well, He will never give up on you. He will be knocking until you draw your last breath. What an amazing Saviour! What an amazing God! Take a moment in your busy schedule. Shut out the worldly noise around you. Just listen. Can you hear the knocking now? 

Dear Lord Jesus. Your love for each one of us never ends, never fails. We are so grateful. Amen. 

Discipline

Posted on by korgrocker

“I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference.”
Revelation 3:19 NLT

Anyone reading the previous verses in Revelation 3, might initially feel that the Laodicean Christians were beyond hope, unable to find a way into God’s presence. Jesus pointed out to them that their self appraisal was at odds with their spiritual reality. But in today’s verse perhaps a little chink of light provided hope for them. Jesus told them that He loved them so much that He was going to make His correction and discipline available to them, something that He does for all His followers. If they accepted it, of course. 

Jesus encouraged the Laodiceans to be “diligent and turn“. An interesting statement. It implied that, first and foremost, they had to realise that they were spiritually poor. That they were, in fact, not the self-sufficient, “I don’t need anything” people after all. They had to decouple their thoughts of material blessings from their spiritual status in God’s Kingdom. And that would need a very diligent and prophetic pastor and leader to get that message across, with willing congregants desiring to change.

Presumably at some time the Laodiceans had heard the gospel message. They would have heard that God had sent His Son, Jesus, to die as a sacrifice for their sins, and as a consequence they would be made right with God. But after a while their hearts had grown cold and they had become indifferent to the things of God. But God never gave up on them, offering a solution to their apostasy. His grace and love would always be there for them, offering them His righteousness, if they repented and turned again to Him.

So, pilgrims. What is the state of our hearts? Are they hard and calloused, indifferent to the things of God? Or are they still soft and pliable, in the Master’s hands? We can all wander off the road to Heaven at some time. But like the Father in the Prodigal Son story, God is always waiting for us. Always scanning the horizons for a sight of us turning back from our waywardness. Yes, the returning might be painful. But worth it in the end. Because we look forward to an eternity to be spent with Him. There’s an old song I used to listen to. A favourite of my wife. The first verse goes like this:-

He didn’t bring us this far to leave us,
He didn’t teach us to swim to let us drown.
He didn’t build His home in us to move away,
He didn’t lift us up to let us down.

Dear Lord God. We thank You that You care so much for us. We thank You that You never give up on us. Please pick us up when we fall, to be in Your presence once again. Amen.