Some of you know that I also began the year with some uncertainties about how it would end: some questions and decisions that I needed to make about future steps.
So it was interesting to discover that that the very first verse of Revelation chapter one says that it is a book that is going to show the reader some things that will take place in the future. How reassuring to be reminded that, even if the future is unknown to us, we serve a God who fully knows everything about the past, present and future.
As that first chapter continues, however, the revelation given to John doesn't start off with things about the future; it starts off with a revelation of who Jesus is, in all His resurrection power, authority, glory and love. That is the most important revelation of all.
I began the year knowing that I needed some revelation and understanding about what I should do in the future (from the second half of this year.) But much more important to me is the desire to continue growing in my revelation of Jesus - in my knowledge and experience of the nature and character of God.
The same sense of priority comes up again in the first verse of Revelation chapter four. John hears a voice saying to him, "Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this." The invitation is to come closer to God; the outcome is to understand more about what should happen in the future.
Sometimes, if we're in a season where we need to make a decision, it's easy to get these priorities all mixed up and to focus on the things we want to know... instead of focusing on the One who knows everything already. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and also the end. Let's heed His invitation to draw closer to Him in this first month of a new year.
