“I will plant them in their land, and no longer shall they be pulled up from the land I have given them,” says the LORD your God. – Amos 9:15
Scripture reading: Amos 9:13-15; Revelation 21:1-8
We already possess the beginning of eternal joy through the indwelling of the Spirit of Christ. The fullness of life described by Amos is one that believers have already now in part. And there is more to come! The notes of God’s judgment have dominated Amos’s preaching, but the Spirit ends by giving us a glimpse of the new heavens and new earth.
C.S. Lewis helps to focus us:
“If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea” (C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory).
Sin offers empty pleasures. Idols are unforgiving tyrants. Trusting in self is a dead-end. Every human being is made in the image of God, designed to know Him, to love Him, and to live with Him in eternal happiness. Sin has ruined that and subjected this world to futility and judgment. The tragedy of rebellion against God is that the rebel rejects the King who gave His life for the world so that sinners can come home.
Home. When your soul aches for permanence in a world of change and your heart longs for holiness in a world stained with sin, rest in the finished work of Christ and set your heart on home. Grace will lead you there.
Suggestions for prayer
Pray for the hope of heaven to deepen your life already now and to draw you forward in persevering faith. Amen! Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Rev. Gary Zekveld is the pastor of New Westminster United Reformed Church in British Columbia, This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional.
