"Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the city; also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there by anything accursed but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need n light of lamp of sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign for ever and ever." Revelation 22:1 - 5 (ESV)
As I read these words, one of main thoughts that comes into my mind is that I really really want to be there, and the next thought is that I really need to work harder to overcome the besetting sins in my life to be sure that I can get there, but that is a dangerous thought, one which if left unchecked is the main threat to arriving there, for it is the seed of unbelief within me that still does not fully trust that Jesus has done everything to secure my arrival in that place.
Jesus himself worked really really hard to secure my place there and there is nothing I can do to add to that.
Yes, I want to overcome sin in my life, but I must never think that my work to overcome sin can in anyway secure my arrival in that place. The only work I need to do is to believe that Jesus has secured my place already, and that work of believing can't properly even be called a work because it is simply looking at the work Jesus did and saying, "Yes, he did that for me."
So when I read these verses and notice how much I want to be there, I remind myself, not that I need to work harder, but that Jesus has already worked hard for me. I thank him in my heart that he has done this for me and I look forward to the day when I will be able to thank him face to face.
