Living Water from the Throne

February 21

Ideas about the afterlife, concepts of what heaven is like are as varied as the thousands of religious systems that occupy the planet. Some believe that life is in a perpetual state of transition, of relocation from one plane of existence to another—dependent upon the works of one lifetime, the quality of the next will be determined.

One growing monotheistic religion teaches that the only certain route to heaven and its rewards of continual sexual gratification and intoxicating libation is by slaying non-believers and being slain in battle against them. Its bloodthirsty god demands that they shed blood to gain paradise.

Christianity gives another view entirely of these very human, very elemental perceptions of what affords and what constitutes eternal reward. While these systems focus on the fulfillment of human desires in eternity, our Most High God reveals that it is His own lofty standard which is beyond human comprehension that comprises the rewards of heaven.

Eternal blessings do not come to us because we earn or deserve them; they come because we simply hold out our hand in faith to Jesus to receive them. In Revelation 22:1 we are given this glimpse of eternity: “He showed me the River of Living Water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the Throne of God and of the Lamb.” It is given by and springs from Christ—from His goodness and His grace!