PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY (REVELATION 19:6-9) LENT DAY 17

REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is Preparing for the journey. To prepare means to be ready for an event. A journey is an act of travelling from one place to another. Preparing for the journey in the context of today’s Scripture reading means to be ready to depart or travel with the Lord into His glorious and everlasting Kingdom as members of His bride or the Church.

Dear friend, we observe that there is an eternal union which is likened to a marriage union between Jesus Christ the groom and the Church His bride. When Jesus returns with His heavenly hosts to judge and redeem the Church the actual everlasting marriage union will take place when believers who represent the church and the bride of Jesus will journey with Him to His everlasting Kingdom. John wrote, “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.” (Revelation 19:6-8)

Dear friend in the Lord, It is important to note that Christians or believers represent the universal church which is also known as the Catholic Church or the bride of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase  katholou which means the whole or in general. It is a term adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as a single denomination but in essence all Christian denominations and believers all over the world form the universal or Catholic Church. It is this Catholic or universal Church that must be prepared to journey with Jesus, the groom when He comes in His full glory. The glorious eternal union is not between church denominations and Christ, it is between Christ and the Universal or Catholic fellowship of believers connected in faith and spirit. These believers are referred to as the saints after they are united with Jesus the groom.

Beloved in the Lord, it is possible that when Jesus Christ, the groom returns for the final and eternal union between Him and the Church, not all people in the Church will qualify as saints. A saint is a person who has faith in Jesus, acknowledges Him as Lord and Saviour and does the will of God characterised with righteous deeds through the enablement of the Holy Spirit. It is for this reason Jesus said in Matthew 7:21 that “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’” Again, He reminds us in Matthew 22:14 that “For many are called, but few are chosen.” In other words, to be born into a Christian denomination, being a mere churchgoer or a member of a Christian denomination will not automatically make you a saint or one who is prepared to journey as part of the church or bride of Jesus on the day of the eternal union. Jesus admonished us in John 4:24 that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” We must prepare for the journey by not being nominal Christians or mere Churchgoers but endlessly worshipping God in the Spirit and in truth. Paul greatly encouraged us to worship God faithfully as part of our preparation for the journey when He wrote “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is —his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:1-2)

The saints are those who do the will of God and the righteous deeds of Christ through faith in Him. It is for this reason Paul admonished us to be prepared when He wrote “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:19-24) The choice is yours to make now in this Lent season, you have to decide either to be part of the crowd of church attendees or to be part of the faithful believers who are not only church attendees but live as believers and saints who do the will of God and take delight in the righteous deeds of Christ in preparedness to be part of Jesus’s bride or the church on the day of the eternal union. Shalom.

In summary, we have reflected on the theme “Preparing for the journey” We have discovered that Preparing for the journey means to be ready to depart or travel with the Lord into His glorious and everlasting Kingdom as members of the His bride or the Church. We must be ready as saints or faithful believers to be counted among bride or the universal Church of Christ when He returns to journey with us into the eternal life. Shalom.

PRAYER

Holy Spirit, strengthen our faith and lead us onto the path of righteousness so that we may be counted among the saints on the day of the eternal union. Amen.