A Great Multitude

We're glad you could join us for today's reading from the Our Daily Bread devotional.

It was written by Amy Boucher-Pye, and she titled it A Great Multitude. We came together for our Sunday morning church service with joy and anticipation. Although we were spatially distanced because of the coronavirus pandemic, we welcomed the opportunity to celebrate Gavin and Tiana's wedding.

Our technologically gifted Iranian friends broadcast the service to friends and family spread out geographically, including in Spain, Poland, and Serbia. This creative approach helped us overcome the constraints as we rejoiced in the covenant of marriage. God's Spirit united us and gave us joy. That Sunday morning with our wonderfully multinational congregation was a small taste of the glory to come when people from every nation, tribe, people, and language will stand before God in heaven.

The beloved disciple John glimpsed this great multitude in a vision he recounts in the book of Revelation. According to Revelation chapter 7, there those gathered will worship God together, along with the angels and elders, saying, Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. The union and marriage of Jesus and his international bride in the wedding supper of the Lamb will be an amazing time of worship and celebration. Our experience at our Sunday church service with people from many nations points to this event that one day we'll enjoy. While we wait in hope for that joyful event, we can embrace the practice of feasting and rejoicing among God's people.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from Revelation chapter 7, verses 9 through 12. After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands, and they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen. Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Let's pray. Loving God, we look forward to the day when we will sing praise and glory to your name in your presence, and we will be united with those who've gone before us. We rejoice in anticipation of being with you, joined with all of our brothers and sisters in Christ. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. I'm Alisha Reisinger, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.