Devotions Archive Archive: 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 Search Archive Print This Article Only imagine Sunday, April 22, 2007 Revelation 5:11-14 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!" Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. Professor Robert Lowery, a scholar of the Book of Revelation, pointed out once that John's vision was beyond words. The word pictures he painted were the best available, but the actual reality was more splendid, more beautiful, more wonderful. Ever since then I read the words and put my imagination to work. What does that look like? And I do that with this part of the book in particular. A million people gathered to hear Martin Luther King, Jr. on the grass under the Washington Monument. I wasn't there, but I can imagine. This gathering in heaven is more and more of that. The people, the angels, the ... creatures of heaven fill every corner of the field clear to the horizon. And they are singing. We are singing. When I close my eyes the song floods over me like honey. The music aims to honor Jesus, and it does. Singing like this bursts my heart. There is no longer anything to block the flow between creature and Creator. I know who I am. I know Jesus. And I am full. What has been the best? This is more. What is most beautiful? This is more. How have I felt loved? This is more. What are the seven wonders of the world, the thousand places I must see before I die, the best of the best? This is more. In their moments of great clarity, Isaiah's lips were burned pure and Paul's eyes were burned to crisps. But John is overcome with joy. Across the divide, through the curtain he shares the smallest of glimpses of eternity. He beckons me to let my imagination flow free and discover more and more and more. All hail the power of Jesus' name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal cherubim, and crown him Lord of all. "; Add      Edit    Delete