Deeper Life #112

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

—Revelation 2:7

PARADISE IS A BEAUTIFUL WORD. It stands for a spiritual reality conveyed by no other word. It refers to a city that “ad no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof” (Revelation 21:23).

This eternal Paradise begins even now in those who walk with God. The soul who has personal communion with God knows that a Paradise has begun and will lead to a greater blessedness, more grand than one can imagine. This is not a false dream. The human heart longs for the real and visible paradise of God.

With God we have the glory that Jesus had, here and now—the glory of His holiness. But then we will be changed into His image, following the Lamb “whithersoever he goeth” (Revelation 14:4). How can we conceive what it shall be like?

Prayer Thought: Oh, the bliss and wonder of heaven. I long for it!

SUGGESTED READING: Luke 23:39–45