Revelation 7:9-10

"After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 

You are the God who saves…from every race, from every nation, you ransom men and women from their sin. You heal us, you restore us, you forgive us, you redeem us. Everything that we need to be saved from our sin, you provide. 

At times, we are tempted to think too much of ourselves – our abilities, our talents, we think are largely products of our own making, that they make us special/powerful/unique.  

Yet you would remind us that any talents we have come from you and are for the benefit of others and for your glory, not ours.  

You remind us that we are ultimately frail, our lives rising for a while, then failing. We grow tired, weary, hungry, angry. We are often not what we think we are. 

At other times, we are tempted to think too little of you – that maybe you don’t really love us, that somehow our sin is too great for you to forgive, that the sacrifice you provided isn’t quite enough to do what you intended it to do. 

Yet you remind us that the sacrifice of Christ that you provided is sure, it is final, it is written and will never be changed.  

You remind us that your love is greater than our sin, that your sacrifice atones for all of our sin, that Christ always intercedes for us. Nothing will ever change your love toward us. 

And we are reminded again that everything we need for salvation comes from your hand. 

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever. 

Amen.