Revelation 4:10-11, “The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 11 You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
Take a few moments to close your eyes and imagine the scene that John is depicting in today’s Scripture reading. This is what heaven looks like right now. Twenty-four elders are worshipping God around His throne with all the saints in heaven who have gone before us, along with the heavenly creatures. They’re all focused on the throne and giving praise and worship to God.
Everyone in heaven is waiting for the Kingdom of God to completely be established upon the earth, so that once and for all, the earth will be like heaven. It will be a place of glorious worship to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Revelation 21-22).
From eternity past, now in the present, and for eternity to come, everything is about the worship and glory of our God.
That is what Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer when He said we should pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Likewise, the only reason we keep praying after Jesus went back to heaven is because heaven hasn’t fully come to earth yet and we still have to ask God to bless us with His promises.
We started this series with learning how to pray and then discovered the different ways to worship the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The goal now is to practice the presence of God by worshipping Him in spirit and in truth. These are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. You don’t have to be on a quest looking for God or try to catch a comet to heaven. Just stop whatever you are doing right now and start worshiping God as described in this series. God will come to you!
One day, you will take off the tent of your earthly body and put on the body of immortality to live forever with God in His presence. There, in God’s presence, you will experience the fullness of joy and pleasures forever more (Psalm 16:11). Everyone will eventually worship Jesus. For those damned to hell, however, the blessing of God’s eternal joy is only for those who are willing to do it now. A.W. Tozer wrote, “I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.”
I hope that worship doesn’t bore you, because you and I can have a foretaste of heaven’s joys and pleasures through our prayer and worship. Now, worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness and join with all of heaven and give Him the glory He deserves!
Reflection
Do you want to join with all of heaven and worship God?
Action
- Find your joy and pleasure in worshipping God.
- Make time every day to worship God and pray.
- Think about Jesus’ great love and one day being with God face-to-face.
