1 This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, 2 who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
4 This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.
Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.
All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 1:1-6
Dear God, Sister Miriam focused on verse 6 this morning in Restore: A Guided Lent Journal for Prayer and Meditation. Quoting it here again: 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
When I read it, I remembered something I was thinking about yesterday. I can’t remember what spurred it, but I remember thinking about John the Baptist being called “the least in heaven,” and it reminded me of my own place in the created order. Living here on earth, we humans feel like we are so important because we are the most evolved life forms here. Our intellect has enabled us to change the world. No other animal or plan can do that. So we feel good about ourselves. We feel self-important. We feel like we are “all that.” And then I remember that, in the created order–of things seen and unseen–we are so small and insignificant. It’s just a fact. Some might hear this thought and be defensive or offended, but it’s reality.
So what makes this important? Well, even though we are these insignificant beings in the cosmos, the top of the food chain, the greatest being in the cosmos, the creator of the cosmos, is really interested in us. He really loves us. He really wants to love us, free us from our sin, forgive us, teach us, and draw our souls to himself beyond this earthly, physical life. I wish I could put a “mind-blown” emoji here.
Father, this in Maundy Thursday. To quote Sister Miriam from today’s entry, “This is the night that Jesus will be given over for our sins and begin his Passion. The mass that we celebrate on the evening of the Lord’s Supper is the last Mass that will be prayed before Easter Vigil. In this Mass, Jesus will offer bread and wine as his Body and Blood, and he will tell the disciples, ‘Do this in memory of me.'” This is my evidence that you love me. This is my evidence that you are capable of freeing me from my sin and enabling me to both walk in that freedom and offer it to others. Help me to know how to do both of those things today.
I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,
Amen
Emails to God 