Which call will you respond to?

This week’s epistle reading is the last few verses of Revelation. It announces that Jesus is coming soon and things will be set right once and for all. This is an encouraging and hopeful word to hear. God’s victory over evil is a given throughout Revelation (no contest!), but here it strikes a note of particular finality.

Here at the imminent coming of Jesus we are presented with a choice. In chapter 21 we saw the vision of the new heaven and new earth and the Holy City coming to earth, the kingdom of God where God will dwell with his people and there will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain.

For that to be true, none of the causes of those things can enter the city of God. So those who have been faithful in word and deed to Jesus Christ -- those whose robes have been washed in the blood of the Lamb -- are welcomed in, whereas the sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers, idolaters, and liars are left outside. It’s not that they roam outside a geographical city: the point is simply that they will not be part of God’s kingdom life.

And so we are presented with a choice. To respond to the call to come to Jesus and take his free gift of life, we must choose to walk away from those things that bring death. We can’t have it both ways -- we can’t respond both to the call to life and the call to death.

Which way will you choose today?

This week's readings: Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:25-37; Romans 8:14-17; John 14:8-17; 25-27