We Will Be Truly Perfect in Christ

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Revelation 21:4, ” And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. “

Background

It was a strange day around the office yesterday. At the IHOP, which sits about 100 yards from our office, a man was stabbed by an acquaintance of his and was lying in the parking lot as the emergency crews were arriving, when a woman who works with me drove by and saw all the commotion and the body lying there in blood. Then, about fifteen minutes later, this same woman, who I tease about driving like a grandma, got a speeding ticket while driving to pick up her son from school. She said she was clocked going twenty miles over the speed limit, which shocks me almost as much as it does her. When she told me the story, she said she was a basket case, bawling her eyes out, and had to get her husband to leave work to go get their child. It was that bad for her. Needless to say, that thirty minutes of her life will stay with her for a very long time.

Application

When I would think about heaven, and imagine a place without sorrow or death or crying, I usually pictured it as a place free from the trials and pain like my friend experienced yesterday. No men getting stabbed while eating pancakes, no one getting expensive tickets for driving while distracted. The negative powers and influences on our lives would be gone, and there would be nothing that existed to cause me pain. But recently I realized that much of the newness for me would be me. I realized, with painful clarity, that much of my pain and disappointment was caused by my own shortcomings. My procrastination, my weakness, my anger, and my pride have been the root for so many of my problems. And I was overwhelmed with gratitude that there will come a day, an eternity, when God will finally make me into what He wants me to be. I won’t put things off until it’s too late. I won’t make hasty decisions and regret them. I won’t blurt out something and hurt those around me. I will be new. The former me will have passed away. It gave me new insight into the phrase, ” passed away. ” How sweet that nothing will exist in heaven to cause sorrow, not the least of which will be the old me.

Charge

As we seek Him today, confess to God where you keep falling short, and then thank Him that He will ultimately take all those faults away and make you into His glorious image.