God’s Final Words

An old cemetery sits in the middle of the city today, but it was once a rural setting where families in grief could spend an afternoon at the graveside of a lost loved-one. The section set aside for babies and small children was dotted with blankets on Sunday afternoons as families came to sit together and contemplate.  Some families would bring along a picnic basket of food to allow them to stay a little longer at the graveside.   Traditions have changed over the last one hundred years, but many of those little gravestones once so lovingly attended still have legible messages—final words that expressed a family’s grief at their loss: “Our Little Mae,” “Darling Herbert,” “Our Darling Daughter Mary Jean.”

Final words express what is in the writer’s heart, and God’s final words in each book of the bible express His heart for us:  words of beauty, words of warning, words filled with promise. The Book of Psalms ends proclaiming that everything with breath should praise the Lord. In Ecclesiastes, the final word is a warning to all that every hidden deed will be judged by God whether it was good or evil. In Jonah, God spares the evil city of Nineveh because of His compassion towards the young children and animals living there who did not participate in wickedness. In Matthew, God reminds us that He is with us until the very end. And the Book of Revelation ends with the last words in the entire bible—favor and blessing be to all those who are counted as saints of God, set apart for Him.

Perhaps you need a word of comfort, correction, peace, or hope.  God has what you need in His book–will you let Him have the final word?