‘I looked, and there was a great number of people, so many that no one could count them.’
Revelation 7:9
Another question we might ask if we were buying a house is: ‘What are the neighbours like?’ In Revelation, John describes a vision he received of heaven. He wrote: ‘After the vision of these things, I looked, and there was a great number of people, so many that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb, wearing white robes and holding palm branches in their hands. They were shouting in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb”’ (Revelation 7:9-10 NCV). John’s vision tells us something important: heaven is a place of complete unity. Everyone in heaven is united by their love of God and Jesus. Everyone there wants to praise God. Their differences don’t matter – the important thing is that they’ve all accepted their salvation through Jesus, and they give glory to God for it. Ever been to a Christian festival like Big Church Day Out or Creation Fest? There are thousands of people from all over the country (and even from across the world), all with different backgrounds, different accents, different languages, different opinions. But they’re united in their love for God and want to come together to worship Him. Heaven will be even better – imagine how amazing it’ll be to see ‘a great number of people, so many that no one could count them,’ all singing and shouting praise to God! But before we get there, we can try to bring some of that to our daily lives, by welcoming those who are different from us into God’s family, forgetting our differences and remembering what unites us – Jesus. What Now? Have a look online for videos of Christian music festivals. As you go through your day, keep in mind the unity that you saw in the worshippers, and look for opportunities to bring that same unity and love into your interactions with others.
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