Revelation 21

About 4 months before the film’s release, I saw a trailer for “The Lord Of The Rings”. It looked pretty cool, and was supposed to be a great story, so I decided to read the books so I would know the tale before seeing the flick.

As I began reading, I discovered that I was not really reading it, but kind of skimming over most of it, looking for the exciting parts and reading them a bit more carefully. Why was I doing this? Was I that impatient? Or was this a result of a too stressed and hurried lifestyle? I really wanted to get into these books and get a lot out of them. So what was the problem??

Well, it was none of the above. I realized that this was the first fiction book that I had read in about 20 years. Serious. The problem? To a degree, I had forgotten how to use my imagination. Having become so accustomed to TV or movies showing me what things were supposed to be like, I had forgotten the joy of imagining it for myself as I read. So I forced myself to read more carefully, and imagined the scenes as they were depicted.

With scenes from the future, the book of Revelation can really bring out the imagination process in us. Isn’t it awesome trying to imagine what heaven is going to be like as we read in chapter 21?

- A great city with the beauty of precious jewels.
- Gates of pearl
- Streets of gold
- No darkness
- No pain
- No death

Of course, heaven is far beyond the capabilities or our human imagination skills. Will it really be like what we read? No. I will be even better! This is the best that our minds can comprehend it. It has not all been fully revealed to us yet. But how wonderful to even begin to imagine what it will be like from what God has shown us already!

Thank God for the gift of imagination. Pray for God to inspire your imagination in picturing the great things that he has planned for you, and the great things that lie ahead in the future, especially the glory of eternal life in heaven. - Richard M.