Reading scriptures –
Revelation 6:9-11
“O Most High Lord, Holy and True, how long will you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
– Revelation 6:10
Are you waiting for something these days? Perhaps a long-planned vacation or an important birthday? Or you may be waiting to recover from a surgery or to restore a relationship.
In our lesson today we see a group of saints waiting. It is part of a wonderful series of visions that God gave the Apostle John to write in the form of the book of Revelation. In this passage the saints are executed for their faith in Jesus, and they want to know how long they must wait for judgment, for the vengeance of the Lord, and for the completion of the coming kingdom of God.
This is a question that all of us who are “in Christ” ask in one way or another. When will our faith come true? When will God’s reconstruction of creation, which began with the resurrection of Jesus Christ, be completed? When will suffering end on this earth? When will happiness truly become eternal?
“Just wait a little while longer” is the answer. No calendar date is provided, but the Lord promises that it will happen. All of us who are “in Christ” will someday be able to enjoy life to the fullest in God’s new creation. Meanwhile, we new creations, all of us who are “in Christ,” are kept, loved, for the coming of the greater new creation that the Lord is working on.
Lord, we are eager to bring your kingdom into its fullness. But we will wait, and as we try to do so with faith, trust in you and love for one another, help us to serve you faithfully. In the name of Jesus, amen.
Author: Dave Den Haan
