REVELATION 14:13-14
FRIDAY, AUGUST 17, 2007
THE BLESSING IS YOURS IF YOU WANT IT
“Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now on.’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “that
they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them.”
Revelation 14:13-14 (NKJV)
How often do we think of death as a Blessing. Maybe we do if the person
has been in pain, has not been able to think clearly or has fought ill
health for many, many years.
Normally we speak of death as a loss and not a Blessing. When we do this
we are talking about the loss felt by those who survive. If, as a
survivor, I consider death a loss is it any wonder that I would have a
difficult time thinking of death as a Blessing?
The voice from heaven gives us some guidance as St. John is instructed
to write, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” The
important words are “die in the Lord.” Here is a simple illustration. A
new popular product is being released at one minute after midnight on a
certain date. Lines form, sometimes days before the release. Blessed are
those who are in line. You see, you can’t get the product unless you are
in line. You can’t receive this blessing at death unless you are living
your life within the direction of God’s Word.
What is this Blessing? “That they may rest from their labors, and their
works follow them.” are the Words that the Spirit gave John to write.
This resting from your labors is not limited to your daily occupation.
It includes all of the worries, all of the time spent as a volunteer, in
fact, all of everything that you do. When it reads that your works will
follow you it is speaking of those good works that proceed out of the
faith that is ours and grows as we live in God.
Wouldn’t that be a Blessing? To have no more worries, no more cares,
just to enjoy the Wonderful World of Eternity that God has prepared for
us. The beauty of this is that we do not have to work to receive these
Blessings. We only have to want them. The catch is that we can only want
them. We can only want them if we live in the Name of God and allow the
Holy Spirit to reveal to us how magnificent God’s Blessings are. It is
then that we understand that death is not a loss; it is a Blessing for
those who live and die in faith that comes to us through the Saving
Grace of Jesus as He died on that Old Rugged Cross. Not a loss, a real
Blessing, the choice is ours.
WE PRAY:
In that old rugged cross, stained with blood so divine,
A wondrous beauty I see,
For ’twas on that old cross Jesus suffered and died,
To pardon and sanctify me. AMEN.
A SUGGESTION FOR LIVING THE DEVOTION
If you wish to seek to live in God, that is live the way God would have
you live, each day select one thing that you did. Then spend time in
prayer asking God if what you did was pleasing to Him.