Have you ever thought about where your name might be recorded? In these days we when hear so much about internet hacking and phising and super chips and super computers have so revolutionized information acquisition, storage and dissemination, the possibilities are mind boggling and the prospects could be frightening. We might truly be surprised if we knew the whole truth; just where our name might be listed, how, when or why it may have gotten there, and the extent of the information that we consider personal and private contained in certain files.
There are times and places when a record of ones name might prove embarrassing and painful to say the least. Would a husband like to walk his wife past the tree upon which he carved a heart entwining his and his first sweetheart's name? Some motel or hotel registers may contain records of liaisons that could be potentially compromising and disastrous. Some passports are not the sort you would like to have your name inscribed in if your plane were to be hijacked. Who would look forward to having their name listed in an obituary or on a tombstone?
This is not to say that records are not important and necessary. Birth and marriage certificates and records serve important purposes. The authenticity of the simple birth certificate one world leader brought into question his qualifications to lead his nation. Passports and visas seem to have a positive and necessary function. Criminal and court records are obviously pertinent and vital. Even property titles and voting lists seem to be proper and necessary places to find ones name recorded.
But no matter how important the listing or sophisticated man's record systems may become, all such records are destined and doomed to ultimately decay and be destroyed by the passage of time. There will come a day when the world systems and the very world in which they exist will be destroyed and consumed in the fervent heat of the awful and final judgement of an eternal God. Then the lists, honours and accolades of man will pass as the grass withers and the only thing that will be eternally significant will be the praise of God rather than the praise of men!
But there is an even better place to have your name inscribed. There is a book of eternal and enduring record that is far more important and significant than any temporal earthly record. What is that book? You guessed it! The Lamb's Book of Life. When the seventy returned excited and rejoicing because of the great power they had been given to work miracles, signs and wonders, and to overcome demonic spirits, Jesus reminded them that an even greater joy is to know that ones name is recorded in heaven.
Is it any wonder then that in the midst of His Revelation of all the terrible judgements of the Great Tribulation, our Savior reminds us a half-dozen times or so of the great blessing of our names being recorded in His eternal book? Is your name written there?
There are times and places when a record of ones name might prove embarrassing and painful to say the least. Would a husband like to walk his wife past the tree upon which he carved a heart entwining his and his first sweetheart's name? Some motel or hotel registers may contain records of liaisons that could be potentially compromising and disastrous. Some passports are not the sort you would like to have your name inscribed in if your plane were to be hijacked. Who would look forward to having their name listed in an obituary or on a tombstone?
This is not to say that records are not important and necessary. Birth and marriage certificates and records serve important purposes. The authenticity of the simple birth certificate one world leader brought into question his qualifications to lead his nation. Passports and visas seem to have a positive and necessary function. Criminal and court records are obviously pertinent and vital. Even property titles and voting lists seem to be proper and necessary places to find ones name recorded.
But no matter how important the listing or sophisticated man's record systems may become, all such records are destined and doomed to ultimately decay and be destroyed by the passage of time. There will come a day when the world systems and the very world in which they exist will be destroyed and consumed in the fervent heat of the awful and final judgement of an eternal God. Then the lists, honours and accolades of man will pass as the grass withers and the only thing that will be eternally significant will be the praise of God rather than the praise of men!
But there is an even better place to have your name inscribed. There is a book of eternal and enduring record that is far more important and significant than any temporal earthly record. What is that book? You guessed it! The Lamb's Book of Life. When the seventy returned excited and rejoicing because of the great power they had been given to work miracles, signs and wonders, and to overcome demonic spirits, Jesus reminded them that an even greater joy is to know that ones name is recorded in heaven.
Is it any wonder then that in the midst of His Revelation of all the terrible judgements of the Great Tribulation, our Savior reminds us a half-dozen times or so of the great blessing of our names being recorded in His eternal book? Is your name written there?
