Leaving for a Far Country

I put away the oars, the dock looming out of the mist. The coordinates they had given me were spot-on. The island city was real after all.

Two tall statues, of a man and a woman grasping hands, framed the entrance to the metropolis. The streets were of stone, as were the buildings, and the roofs were covered with strange, advanced technological devices. I encountered no guard, which seemed odd. What kind of city didn’t have a guard? No city I had ever spent any significant time in.

A darker-skinned man nodded to me as I came in, and I half-expected him to follow me. But he didn’t. Neither did the lighter-skinned woman who bustled past with a smile. That is what struck me about the city’s people first: I had never seen such a diversity of skin colors among people lingering freely among each other—talking, laughing, smiling.

It was staged. It had to be. But if it was for my benefit, it was ludicrously involved. I walked out of the street to see an entire intersection filled with people from every tribe, tongue, and nation. I slunk into a corner, trying desperately to find someone of my own race who wasn’t with someone who wasn’t.

I couldn’t fathom what had caused these strange people on this strange island to put aside their deep differences. Their past. Their culture. Their view of the world. Their biases. Their generational, flesh-and-blood-born fears and prejudices.

A parade was coming through suddenly, and everyone was cheering. As it swept past, I caught a glimpse of the man in the center. He looked like he was from the Middle East. He was smiling at everyone, and then, in a flash, he caught my eye. • Kevin Zeller

• Today’s devotion is a poetic picture of a real and promised hope of Christians: that, because of Jesus’ resurrection, we will live forever with Him and other believers from all around the world and throughout history. Why is it important that Jesus’ kingdom includes people “from every nation, tribe, people, and language†(Revelation 7:9)?

• What impact does the gospel have on the way you view people who are different from you?

After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes with palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9 (CSB)

Read Verses:

John 1:1-14