阅读经文 

在结束五月份的默想之前，启示录中还有一个场景，是我们应该留意的。我们需要留意，神在启示录讲述的伟大故事是怎样完结的。启示录让我们看到灿烂辉煌的“新天新地”，这是我们的福气。

在阅读一本书之前，我父亲喜欢预先知道故事的结局。因为他只能拨出很少时间来看书，所以，在读第一章之前，他会先翻阅最后一章。如果结局能引起他的兴趣，他便认为这本书值得一读。

当思想神的话语时，我们需要一次又一次翻阅启示录的最后几章圣经。信心需要知道故事的结局，信心需要确保结局如何实现，尤其是在难以面对面见到神的时候就尤其需要。

或许你现在就处在这种境况中，而我们每一个人都在面对同一现实境况。事实上，所有受造之物都在呻吟和在等待得到完全的救赎。（参罗 8:18-22）我们渴慕寻求公平；热切盼望神的圣名得到完全的尊崇；我们祈求不再有痛苦、万国万民都以爱和尊重来彼此扶持的那一天来到；我们期待有一天罪恶永远消失、受造之物得到护理，成为神所喜爱的美丽家园。

我们是否要因着耶稣，为着那一天的实现来忠心生活和努力工作呢？

There is one more scene we should see in Revelation before we close our reflections for the month of May. We need to see how God’s great story in Revelation ends. Revelation 21 blesses us with the sights and sounds of "a new heaven and a new earth."

Before reading a book, my father liked to know how the story ended. He had little time for reading, so before reading the first chapter, he turned to the last chapter. If the ending caught his interest, he figured the book was a good read.

When we reflect on the Word of God, we need to turn to the final chapters in Revelation again and again. Faith needs to know how the story ends. Faith needs to be assured of the ending, especially when it can be hard to see God.

Perhaps you are in such a place today. In a real way, we all are in this place. In fact, the whole creation is crying out as it waits for its full redemption (Romans 8:18-22). We hunger and thirst for justice. We long for the day when God’s holy name will be fully honored. We pray for the day when there will be no more pain, and when people of every nation and language will hold each other up with love and dignity. We look forward to the day when sin is gone for good and the creation is cared for as the beautiful garden of God’s delight.

Shall we live and work faithfully toward that day, for Jesus’ sake?