Let God define our new normal

Every day we're reading or listening to part of the Bible together and sharing thoughts with you. Today it’s Bern Leckie:

What did I like about today’s passage?

This is all kinds of epic. We're reaching the end of the end times, the ultimate destination, which I'm excited turns out to be really good and not so much an end of everything as the beginning of something better than we can really imagine right now.

Trying to imagine life without evil and death is mind-bending - it's something part of us has always longed for, but it's also so different from our experience of life so far. Every detail of the New Jerusalem sounds amazing. Taking it literally, 12000 stadia is about 1400 miles, the distance from Bristol to Bucharest on the ground and over five times the altitude of the International Space Station in height. I might just read this as “one very big city.”) And did you know the pearly gates are "each made of a single pearl”? Even the bits we thought we knew here are surprising, aren’t they?

The idea of being able to depend on God for everything, including light, seems a very important part of this prophecy, and for the suffering church which first received it, this was a comfort and an encouragement - not just about life to come, but about who God is now. We have a lot to look forward to, but the time to worship and trust God is today.

What did it show me about Father God, Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

God thinks big. His vision to restore us to life with him is vivid and exciting, not just because of the rich resources God wants to bring to the building project, but because the life described here is dynamic, fruitful and bright. It will not be obtained without struggle, but Jesus has paid for our part in both the life itself and the battle to secure it. We should be under no illusion that the ideal world is a product of human effort and ingenuity alone. God is "the Beginning and the End" and we need to follow his invitation to work with him if we want this most promising future.

What am I going to do differently as a result?

We seem to be at a rare point in history where so much has been changed and needs to be reimagined and rebooted, finding the “new normal” is not just a dream or vision, it’s a vital part of everyone’s to-do list.

So now more than ever, I want to live with the end in mind. Not my set of goals and ideas, but this direction from God. I want this to reshape my thinking, values and actions, and I want God to use me and the rest of us who believe to reshape the world, his way.

Keeping this end in mind, I have realised I need more of a sense of awe and wonder at God's work in the world today. My ideas need to be transformed as my mind is renewed by God. Instead of bringing my idea of God down to my level, assuming he is like me or only capable of doing things I can understand, I will spend more time in worship, conscious of my need for the Spirit’s guidance and expecting to be changed so that God can work through me.

Who am I going to share this with?

Initially people at church in worship. Beyond that, I want God to be better known – let’s see!