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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 5 of 5
Revelation 22:1-9
Vv. 1-5 complete the vision of the holy City during the millennium. It is noticeable just how much alike are the first and the last pages of the Bible. Scripture begins and ends with a paradise, a river, a tree of life . . . But, as someone once wrote, the end is more beautiful than the beginning, the omega more grand than the alpha, the future paradise is not just the old one back again, it is "the paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7) with the eternal presence of the Lamb who died for us. Only sinners who have been saved by grace will have access to it, men such as the converted thief (Luke 23:43). And what will the inhabitants do? They will serve their Lord (v. 3; Revelation 7:15); they will reign with Him (end of v. 5; Daniel 7:27). But one thing will be more precious to them than all the kingdoms: "they shall see his face . . ." (v. 4; Psalms 17:15).
Normally a servant "knoweth not what his lord doeth" (John 15:15). The Lord Jesus, however, hides nothing of "the things which must shortly be done" (v. 6) from His servants, who have become His friends. Is it not strange therefore that we should take so little interest in these marvellous things which concern us (1 Corinthians 2:9)? Above all, is it not sad that we do not take more interest in what the Father has prepared for the glory and the joy of His Son (John 14:28)?
