December 31 - End of Story

 Read today’s texts first: Revelation 19-22

MAXIMize YOUR DAY
Read the end of the Bible story often - it gives meaning and context to everything you do every day of your life!

I love a good story, but when it comes to fiction novels or movies, please don’t give away the ending. The surprising twist in the final chapter is what makes the story worth reading or watching. But when it comes to nonfiction, especially the story of my life, I want to know the ending first. When you devote your life, your career, your family to Jesus, you need to know how it turns out. That’s why I recommend reading the final chapters of the Revelation, and do it often. It gives meaning and context to everything else you read in the Bible and everything you do with your life!

Some say you really can’t know what will happen in the future. To those people, I recommend they consider Pascal’s Wager (postulated by the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal). As to the existence of God, he said you can bet your life on whether He exists or not. The wise wager is to bet on God - if you’re right, you win everything; if you’re wrong you lose nothing. If you bet against God’s existence and you’re right, you gain nothing, but if you are wrong, you lose everything. Talk about your sure bet!

But belief in God is not blind faith (or a blind bet!). We have hundreds of detailed prophecies about Christ’s first coming, His birth, death and resurrection, most written over 700 years before these events happened. And they were all fulfilled, with staggering, undeniable accuracy (eg. check out Isaiah 53). Biblical prophecy is really history (make that “His Story”) written in advance. It will happen - you can bet your life on it!

Our Prince really does ride in on a white stallion to save the day (19:11-16). Many fairy tales were written as illustrations of the very true story of Jesus. He is known as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (19:16), the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (21:6; 22:13). End of story!

“Lord, my life really began when I decided to follow You. I am so thankful that I don’t need to wonder or worry about how it will end because of that decision!”