- What a marvelous reunion we have to look forward to! All those thoughts we didn’t get to share, all those precious times together will be renewed, all the joy filled new experiences to look forward to! And Jesus will be in the middle of us all! Hallelujah!
Afterlife: The Great Gathering
Revelation 7:9-10, 13-14
After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
Thought for Today
People regularly want to know who they will see in heaven and if they will be able to recognize their friends and families. In Revelation 7, John witnesses a miraculous sight, multitudes of people gathered in God’s throne room, singing hymns of praise and waving palm branches. John’s guide on his heavenly tour informs him that these are the people who have come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. In Acts 2:17 Peter announces to the world that the great tribulation had begun on that first Pentecost, “in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh…” The people John saw gathered around the throne of Jesus were the people who were washed in baptism, looked to the cross of Jesus in repentance, and confessed Him as their Lord and Savior. These are our grandparents, parents, spouses, children and bothers and sisters in Christ. All who belong to Christ will be there to greet us. We will know them, embrace them, and join in worship with them. From this moment on nothing will ever be able to separate us from them again. This will make our entrance into heaven a truly grand event!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gathering of Your beloved children in Your heavenly estate. I look forward to being with the loved ones who have gone before me, knowing that I will never be without them again. Amen.
Devotional Quote
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in. Aim at earth and you get neither. — C. S. Lewis
Quote of the Day
The connections we make in the course of a life--maybe that's what heaven is. ― Fred Rogers