The Circle of Life

Our preacher, Dr.Jason Locke, has launched a New Year sermon series on the book of Revelation.  Hmmmm....an interesting place to start the New Year: at the end! But, that actually makes a lot of sense.  Life is lived in a cycle more than in a straight line.  Think about drawing a circle, you come back to the place you started to finish the circle.  I think the same thing is true of our individual lives and of the collective life of this planet.  We learn much about how to end something properly by understanding how it began.  We make a good beginning when we have the end goal in mind from the start.  Those who work closely with the dying will tell you that many deathbed words are spoken about childhood, parents, brothers and sisters--important relationships that go way back to the beginning of a person's life.

So why is it important to study the "end times", the final chapters of the Bible, at the beginning of the New Year?  So we can begin with the end in mind.  We can fasten our eyes on the goal and gain a "big picture" perspective of this journey we are on individually and corporately, as a church body and as a human race.

Thank you, Dr. Jason, for being willing to tackle the tough, poetic, prophetic passages of Revelation.  Of all the books of the Bible, this one may be the most overused by fanatics who desire to manipulate people with scare tactics and personal agendas.  It is tempting to steer clear of something that has been so corrupted by so many false teachers.  But, "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness." (2 Timothy 3:16 New American Standard Version) And so, the legitimate, true, humble teachers and preachers of God's Word, must go ahead and teach the truths from the book of Revelation, trusting God's Spirit to bring true understanding to their students.

There's an interesting verse in the book of Ecclesiastes, penned by the wisest man who ever lived: King Solomon:

"The end of a matter is better than its beginning;
Patience of spirit is better than haughtiness of spirit."  Ecclesiastes 7:8 (New American Standard Version)

What does that mean?  Well, in my pondering, I have thought how easy it is to start a project and be quite boastful about all the big plans I have to finish famously.  But, as we all know, if there were a museum for projects that have been started but never completed, well, it's still under construction...! It's easy to make big plans, it's easy to brag, it's easy to start something, it's much more difficult to patiently and humbly persevere until the project is complete.

I believe that's what this study of Revelation can do for us.  It can give us the wisdom, vision and courage to humbly and patiently continue our journey, keeping the good ending in view.

We look forward to a fulfilling journey together in our study of "the end", the book of Revelation!

--Posted by Mama O.