You woke up with something motivating you today. We rarely pause to consider it deeply, but something drives us. It is an intangible, invisible force pulsing somewhere inside of you and it facilitates how you are living out your life. Even the demotivated, the unstirred, apathetic and lazy person is motivated – these people are motivated by a desire to be left alone with little expectation upon them. Intense, high-achievers are awakened with a sense of inward urgency, which translates to decisive action externally. All of us are motivated by something and, as a Christian, I always seek to remain aware of what motivates me because my life does not actually belong to me. As the Apostle Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, I have been bought with a price and I am no longer my own. My very life belongs to an unseen and gloriously good King and, because of this reality, I desire to anchor my motivation for living in the truth expressed in these captivating verses below:
“No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His servants will worship Him. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.” – Revelation 22:3-5
A better day is coming for us. This day will be the everlasting reality for the people of God. It is the very best that the Father can offer us and it is neverending. It will not be some good season which lasts for a bit, and then gives way to something else. No, the coming day will be one that ushers in a Paradise which has been awaiting the children of God since before time began. The Revelation verses above tell me what to expect when that moment arrives at which my sometimes stumbling faith finally and fully gives way to perfect sight.
- All elements of the curse will be removed. No sickness. No pain. No sorrow. No separation. No sin. No demons. No devil. No prejudice. No war. No riots. No cancer. No fear. No bitterness. No death. The curse will be fully extinguished, never to be experienced again.
- The reigning Sovereign King of the universe will be fully manifest, and adoringly worshiped by all who enter Paradise. His throne will be the enduring emblem of His dominion of love. Those who surrendered to Him on earth will all be present in Heaven, having been granted full and lavish entrance through the sacrifice of the Lamb of God who is Jesus Christ. A yet-to-be-experienced type of worship awaits us there, and it will blow away any moments of worship we have experienced down here by faith. A Lamb upon a throne! A Lamb? Only the wisdom of God could make such pleasure out of such paradox.
- We will see His face. We will see the face of Jesus. We will see His face! Having not yet seen Him, we have been made to love Him and we currently rejoice with inexpressible joy (1 Peter 1:8). We can scarcely imagine what joy will be ours when, with redeemed eyes and hearts, we are finally made to behold Him. This is the inheritance of the saints of God! Almost as an inspired footnote, the verses from Revelation 22 above mention that He will inscribe His very name upon us. This majestic and holy tattoo will proclaim for the endless ages that we belong to Him and that He is our King.
- Darkness will disappear. So will all sources of inferior light. The radiance of the glory of God will illuminate Paradise, and He will invite us into a perpetual state of unfolding enlightenment. Revelation will not cease when we enter Heaven because even the unending ages cannot exhaust the depth of the beauty and character of our great God. He Himself will be our Light, and we will see there what we could never have seen below. We will always be knowing as we are known. All mysteries will be answered. All perplexity will give way to understanding. The unfathomable will be made simple, yet still glorious, in the light of the effulgence of Jesus Christ.
And then, without much detail, the end of the verses simply declare that we, the chosen of God in Christ, will reign with Him forever. Friends, these things motivate me. These things provide context for who I am and what I do. These promises gloriously hang over my mind and whisper to me to press on, endure hardship, and pursue the deeper things as I wait expectantly on the King who cannot fail me. These priceless verses from Revelation 22 reassure my sometimes fickle heart that the best is yet to come. When I close my eyes and allow my mind to rest on what these verses declare, I can see the knowing smile of an undefeated King who has promised to bring me unto Himself.
And there I find my motivation for today.