Ch. 321 - A Stolen Breath

[The New Jerusalem]

'Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." '
[Revelation 21:1-8]

These were the verses I read today to start a class. At the beginning of the semester our teacher had us volunteer for certain days to read and pray. As soon as I spotted these verses from Revelation, I wanted to volunteer to read them (Revelation is my favorite book of the Bible). I love reading the Bible aloud, so this was a great three or four minutes for me - especially since it was of Revelation. I couldn't tell you how many times I've read these verses... yet as I was reading them to the class this morning, there was a catch in my throat and my breath was stolen for a beat as I read, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End." And I smiled. It was a great way to start the day.