Permanent Residence

Daily Reading: Revelation 18

Scripture Focus: So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more (Revelation 18.21b)

Devotional Thought: A few weeks ago, I was riding through town with a friend. We drove by an old, dilapidated house on her street. The house had a bright orange 'X' on an outside wall. She remarked, "I thought they were going to tear that house down." I thought to myself, "If they leave it much longer, they won't need to. It's going to fall down!" That's kind of sad to think about, isn't it? When that house was built many years ago, it was a source of satisfaction and pride. Today, it is ready to be torn down to "be found no more."

John the Revelator saw that future for Babylon. In chapter 16, of Revelation, we saw Babylon as symbolic of this world's corrupt powers. Today, I see in it another comparison: Babylon as the temporal city vs. The New Jerusalem as the eternal city.

The New Jerusalem is a city coming down from heaven (Revelation 21). It is destined to host the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19). It is an eternal city, where those who enter shall never go out (Revelation 3). Abraham sought a city with foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Hebrews 11).

I've had a hand in the construction of 4 new homes. I've loved those homes - been proud of them – but, I recognize that they will not be there forever. Through the ravages of time, everything is destined to destruction. There is a house that will remain strong through all the storms of life. It will also last through all eternity. That is the house built on the Rock which is Jesus Christ.

Are you building your life on Jesus?

Prayer: Lord, I am looking for a better city, an eternal city, the abode of God. I purpose to so live in this world that I may dwell in that world forever. Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 109.21-25

21 But you, O God my Lord,

deal on my behalf for your name's sake;

because your steadfast love is good, deliver me!

22 For I am poor and needy,

and my heart is stricken within me.

23 I am gone like a shadow at evening;

I am shaken off like a locust.

24 My knees are weak through fasting;

my body has become gaunt, with no fat.

25 I am an object of scorn to my accusers;

when they see me, they wag their heads.