A book with a perfect ending, and it’s good all the way through!

By Dean Collins

Have you ever skipped ahead to read the end of the book to make sure you wouldn’t be disappointed? Occasionally when watching a streaming series I discover that one of my favorite characters is in danger and might die. Sometimes for assurance, I look to see if the character is still in later episodes because I just want to make sure everything works out the way I think it should.

Here in the first couple of weeks of the new year, I have that same desire to somehow check the upcoming episodes of 2024 and see if everything turns out the way I think it should. But as advanced as our technology has become, none of us can transport ourselves ahead to verify our preferred outcomes. What we can do is pray, seek, work, wait, and trust that God is with us and will see us through whatever is ahead for us in the new year.

Grand narrative

For several years I have used various read-through-the-Bible plans found on YouVersion. (If you haven’t already started one for this year it is not too late!) One benefit of reading the whole Bible is that you begin to connect the pieces of God’s grand narrative. There are reading plans that take you through the New Testament in chronological order and mix in supporting Old Testament passages. Other plans take you through the Old Testament chronologically and weave in New Testament passages to show how the whole story works together. No matter which plan you choose, if you read both the Testaments, you begin to understand God has woven a grand narrative that includes us today.

Some modern scholars are critical of grand narratives because they claim them to be overly simplistic and exclusive to certain people. But it is hard to come to that conclusion with Scripture. In Scripture, we find that God created the whole world and sent his Son to redeem and restore all of his creation, not just some of it.

And regarding simplicity, is it that hard to believe that in the vastness of God’s wisdom he made it simple for us to understand he loves us so much that he sent his Son to redeem us and restore us and bring his creation back into alignment with him? Maybe it is simplistic to think otherwise.

Good days

As we contemplate or even fear what is ahead of us in 2024, maybe we should remind ourselves that if we are still around to think about the future, God got us through the past year and might still have good days ahead for us in the future. And while I can’t assure myself or you that all of your days in the next year will be easy and without difficulty, I can remind us that in God’s great plan for us, we all do have better days ahead! In fact, we all have wonderful, peaceful, loving, and even joyful days ahead according to the testimony of Scripture and of Jesus himself.

As I started my reading plan this year, I went ahead and skipped ahead to the ending of both Testaments. In Malachi, we find that all who fear the Lord will one day be leaping like calves when we see that God ultimately resolves all wickedness under our feet. He did that when he sent Jesus into the world and crushed the grip of the enemy through his shed blood on the cross.

And when we read the end of Revelation, we find that we will one day see Jesus in all of his glory and that all of our thirst for peace, joy, unity, and connection with God himself will come to pass. Jesus promised that he is coming soon! “Soon” may not be as soon as we would like, but it will be soon enough from God’s perspective and in his perfect timing.

Encouraging words

I don’t know how this year will end. But the apostle Paul gave us these encouraging words that I prayed every day last year. I am praying them and trusting their truth this year as well:

”And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ“ (Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬).

Father, forgive us when we worry too much instead of trusting that you are with us, for us, and will deliver us today, through this year, and even into eternity. We love you and await your return to earth to renew and restore all of creation. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Your time with God’s Word
‭‭Malachi‬ ‭4‬:‭2‬-‭6; ‭‭Revelation‬ ‭22‬:‭1‬-‭7‬, ‭16‬-‭17‬, ‭20‬-‭21‬‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash
To receive daily posts delivered directly to your inbox, complete the form at the bottom of our home page.