Read: Revelation 22:6-11, 18-20
The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.” “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.” (vv. 6-7 NIV)
Just after God painted a picture of a new Eden, in a great city, with a new tree of life for the healing of all nations, John hears the words, “These words are trustworthy and true.” Trustworthy and true. Listen to this in an age of fake news. Hear this confident assertion in a day when misinformation spreads like wildfire. Take it to heart—God’s words are reliable.
Occasionally, my mom sends me emails. She’s 85. I’m 50. She wants to make sure I’m rightly informed on the issues, you might say. Often, she’ll forward something someone sent to her, and I’ll copy and paste the content into Google only to find that it’s a proven lie. It makes me sad because my mom believes it. And when she responds to my plea not to listen to those sources, she says, “Well, who can you trust nowadays?”
These words are trustworthy and true—that God is coming to make all things new, with designs for a global garden-city in which all nations will dwell together in peace. God is coming to make all things new. Count on it. —Chuck DeGroat
As you pray, thank God that his words are trustworthy and true.
About the Author
Chuck DeGroat is the Professor of Pastoral Care and Christian Spirituality at Western Theological Seminary. He is committed to spiritual and emotional formation for the sake of mission. His experience is represented in a fluid combination of pastoral ministry and seminary training for 20 years. He has served several church plants as a teaching pastor and has started two church-based clinical counseling centers. Most recently, he was a teaching pastor at City Church San Francisco, where he co-founded Newbigin House of Studies, an urban and missional training center with offerings through Western Theological Seminary.
