My Devotionals

They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads….And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:4-5)

Today concludes our series exploring 5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Here they are again:

• Truth #1: We who are in Christ will delight in our work for eternity.
• Truth #2: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.
• Truth #3: We can expect some continuity between our work now and our work on the New Earth. 
• Truth #4: We will have unlimited time to do the work we want to do for God’s glory.
• Truth #5: We will reign with Christ intimately forever and ever.

I saved the best truth for last. Because it is that foundational truth—that we will finally be with God fully—that makes all the others so wonderful.

But read Revelation 22:5 again. We won’t just be with God. We will work and reign with him, which is exactly what he intended from the beginning (see Genesis...

No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him…And they will reign for ever and ever. (Revelation 22:3,5)

There are dozens of jobs I would love to try: write a musical, be a travel planner, design a bookstore, serve as personal photographer to a president or dignitary. The list goes on and on. 

Why don’t I give one of these careers a shot? Because loving my neighbor through my work requires the pursuit of excellence in my work. And the pursuit of excellence requires loads of focus and time.

You simply can’t “do it all” if you want to do your most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. But you can in the life to come! 

That brings me to the fourth of five biblical truths about work on the New Earth we’re exploring in this series: We will have unlimited time to do the work we want to do for God’s glory.

Psalm 37:4 says this: “Take...

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on…for their deeds will follow them. (Revelation 14:13)

A fortune teller once told Walt Disney that he would die on his birthday before he turned thirty-five. As Disney biographer Bob Thomas explains, “the prediction had a profound effect on him…he seemed to be in a race against time to accomplish all the work he wanted to do.” 

Can you relate to Walt Disney? Of feeling like time is speeding up and the drumbeat of hurry only seems to be growing louder? 

I used to feel that burden far more than I do today. What has God used to free me? Biblical truths about work on the New Earth in general and this one in particular: We can expect some continuity between our work now and our work on the New Earth. 

What kinds of continuity? At least these two. 

First, there will be some continuity in what we work with as Isaiah 60 promises that some of the best cultural goods from this life will...

“Well done, my good servant!” his master replied. “Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.” (Luke 19:17)

We’re in a series exploring 5 biblical truths about work on the New Earth. Today’s passage hints at the second: We will be rewarded with varying degrees of responsibility based on how we live and work today.

Now, if this sounds new to you, it's not your fault. Many churches never talk about eternal rewards. But Jesus did constantly. And one of the many rewards he promised is increased job responsibilities on the New Earth. 

This is one of the lessons of Jesus’s parable of the minas (see Luke 19:11-27), which is similar to but distinct from the parable of the talents. The parable features a master (who represents Jesus) who asks a few servants to steward his minas (a form of money) while he goes on a journey. Upon his return, the master turns to the servants who have faithfully stewarded...

See, I will create new heavens and a new earth….my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain. (Isaiah 65:17, 22-23)

I talk a lot about the work God’s Word promises we will do for eternity. But I know this is a wild and new idea for many. If that’s you, let me bring you up to speed in three bullets:

• Nobody will spend eternity “in heaven.” God promises to bring heaven to earth and to dwell with us here forever (see Revelation 21:1-5).
• While the present heaven is marked by rest (see Revelation 14:13), the New Earth is marked by active service and worship (see Revelation 22:3-5).
• We will worship God not just by singing but by long enjoying the work of our hands (see Isaiah 65:17-23).

With those foundational truths under our feet, I’ll use the rest of this series to share 5 biblical truths about the nature of work on the New Earth. The first is seen clearly in today’s passage: We who are in Christ will...