Good Morning!
I just returned from a few days of vacation. I’ll be out again next week over the 4th of July. The time off is good. Very good. While I am tired this morning, my spirit is rested. That’s the primary purpose of a vacation, in my opinion. I was encouraged by a few readers during this time who shared stories about how these posts have been a source of encouragement for them. We all have been gifted in certain things in certain ways by God, and these devotionals seem to be his gift to me. I am grateful for those who initially prodded me to make these public. I was very reluctant, but now I hope the whole world reads them. I’m not looking for people to notice me; rather, I am losing my inhibition to share the gospel. As Paul says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”
And why should I be ashamed? When I look at things through the right perspective, my home in heaven overwhelms anything here on earth. It’s not just bad things that are insignificant in comparison; it is the good things as well. Is it not? Actually, it was my Puritan devotional today that put this thought in my mind. While I am grateful for my vacation, I am also reminded that it is of this world, and something far, far better is ahead, just around the corner.
Isaiah 43:18-21 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.
This reminds me of another passage that is in the very top of my favorite list:
Isaiah 35:8-10 And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it. It shall belong to those who walk on the way; even if they are fools, they shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast come up on it; they shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
I am grateful for my vacation. Very grateful. Yet I was reminded by a Puritan of old that even these blessings should not obscure the true blessing that lies ahead.
Revelation 21:5-7 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.
Father, thank you so much for my vacation. Even more so, thank you for my salvation and the inheritance I shall one day obtain as I see Jesus face to face. There I shall find true rest. Until then, I find rest, comfort, and peace with the Holy Spirit as I look forward to that day. Amen.
Copyright © 2018 Scott Powers