December 31

The Revelation to John -- Triumph of Christ and His Church -- Revelation 19:1-21, 20:1-15, 21:1-8; Glory and Grandeur of Heaven -- Revelation 21:9-27, 22:1-5; Epilogue -- Revelation 22:6-21

Photograph of the actual morning star -- the star that signals the end of the night and ushers in the dawn.

I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star. [Revelation 22:16]

Jesus' last recorded words in the Bible.  He is the morning star -- It is the brilliant star (actually Venus) that appears to signal the end of night and the coming of morning.  Jesus has signaled the end of all that is dark and the dawn of a new day of light.  

I love Christ's close -- a rich symbol that encompasses our looking forward to the skies for His coming and the hope of heaven.  Christ is the morning star and we wait for him to signal the coming dawn.

I also can't help but think of Thoreau's last line in Walden, a literary allusion to this verse:  "The sun is but a morning star."

I feel that same sense of satisfaction and joy and hope in the completion of my first read through the Bible, cover to cover, in a year.  Somehow it made me feel like an insider.  A bit closer to God -- not in understanding Him, because now I think I have even more questions.  But closer in spirit and encompassed by His love.  I still hold that the Lord is alive in nature and the world around us and we can feel and know Him there.  But this does not replace the importance of scripture and His Word.  There are times to be in the Book and times to get up and look up and out and beyond the pages to see the Word, living and breathing and moving and at work in the world around us.