He Reigns
Bible reading
5b To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father – to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
– Revelation 1:5b-6 (NIVUK)
Devotional
What is God’s plan for your life? For mine? What is His will for us? What does He want us to do? We spend a lot of time wondering and worrying about our purpose and God’s plan when He has made it really plain for us! We don’t have to wonder who we are or what we should be doing. The day that Jesus sat down with John to share a message with the churches He reminded us of our identity and our purpose.
We are the ones that Jesus loves. And Jesus loved us so much that he freed us from our sins. Freedom! Real freedom. Free to love, free to hope, free to experience life in abundance. We are no longer slaves to sin or to any other thing or person. The world may think that we are slaves to a system, but we know the truth, we are freer now than ever before! And so, we can serve freely.
We serve in God’s kingdom with and to God’s people. We are priests. Priests who pray, who serve, who intercede, who care, who warn, who encourage, and who teach. Our duties are not slavery and our kingdom is not oppressive. As we serve one another we also serve our God. As we bring joy to each other, we bring joy to God. As we sacrifice for others, we are reminded of the sacrifice given to us by God.
As we think of who we are, what we’ve been given, and why we are here, it becomes easier to praise God. He has done great things in our lives, in our community and in our world. He has done these things with power in love. It’s a strange mixture for us. We know what both love and power are but we are not used to seeing them work together in beautiful balance. But we see it in God and in His Son! His power wielded with love has reconciled us to himself!
To him be the glory and power for ever and ever!
– Connie Main Duarte
This devotional is part of a series that helps us navigate the texts of the book of Revelation with fresh eyes. A new devotional every Saturday.
These devotionals are available in Portuguese and in English.