We were
recently invited to a church member’s home for a dinner, their Easter
celebration a week after Easter. What a
wonderful feeling it was to be asked to be part of this big meal, this
gathering of so many people. And what
made it even better was that we were told not to bring anything. We did not need to contribute to the
selection of food. We were just to be
welcome guests at the banquet.
This
was a great gift to us. We did not have
the opportunity to visit our own family on the holiday so we became part of a
different family. God offers a similar
invitation in His revelation to John of Patmos.
What is God doing? What does He
offer?
In this
passage we have a gift from God. He
offers the spring of life to whoever is thirsty. That is, whoever desires to have a
relationship with God, whoever desires to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord is
welcome to drink from the abundant grace of God. God welcomes all into His kingdom of love and
mercy.
In
addition to this the Almighty offers an inheritance of being part of the family
of God. Whoever overcomes, whoever is
able to hold onto faith through the challenges and temptations of life will be
made heirs of God’s kingdom. They will
no longer be separated from God but will become one of His blessed children.
What
strikes me most, however, is that this passage begins with a declaration from
the Lord. “I am making everything new!”
What is
it that God is making new? He is making
each one of us new. We shed the old ways
of living. We shed our old fears. We shed our despair, and in its place we
become blessed children of God, saved by Christ and welcomed into the eternal kingdom.
But I
believe God is also making the whole situation of humanity new. No longer are there a select few who are
chosen by God. His grace and mercy are
extended to all people, all who are willing and who desire to connect with the
Lord and accept Christ.
And in
that we have a lesson for ourselves. We
need to make all things new. We need to
have a new way of looking at other people.
Instead of seeing some as unworthy to worship with us we must see that
all are welcome in God’s house. Instead
of seeing some as people we want to avoid we must see them as friends we have
not yet met.
Not
only are we all made new through Christ, but our attitudes must be made new
too.
DAILY CHALLENGE: What can help you get past your old attitudes?
