The City of God – at Any Cost

God lives and works today and one of the greatest miracles of God is that He longs to have us sinful beings at His side for all eternity. For this reason He has prepared the City of God, full of glory and splendor. Today's meditation from the little land of Canaan in Darmstadt, Germany, wants to open our eyes to catch a glimpse of the City of God.

In my own personal experience, there was a decisive turning point. Previously, I was very indifferent to the City of God. I didn't know what to think about it.

What mattered most to me was to be righteous through faith here on earth. But today I have one great longing, that the Lord might not speak to me one day as He did to the foolish virgins in the parable, and say, I do not know you. It is something wonderful to be homesick for the City of God, where we may be united with Him for all eternity.

Once, when I was telling our sisters about this homesickness, Mother Basilea had invited us to a little festival of heaven. At such times, we usually decorate the room imaginatively to help us picture the City of God better. We made a golden gate and had set it up at the entrance to the room.

This time I was ill and had to be wheeled in an armchair. One of the sisters said to me, it doesn't look as though you can make it into the room. The chair is too wide and the door is too narrow.

Another sister was a bit more courageous and said, let's give it a try. And with a millimeter to spare, I got through the gate. Of course, this doesn't give me any guarantee that I will one day get into the City of God.

But this little experience seemed to show me that Jesus is standing there with outstretched arms saying, believe, trust, God will make the impossible possible. No matter how large and dreadful your sin is, Jesus can blot it out. Jesus can draw you so close to His heart that one day you will be at the marriage supper of the Lamb and not have to mourn far away from the place of eternal happiness.

To be far away from the marriage supper is the worst fate I could imagine. Even if it were not in hell, we might be in a distant region. There we would be able to hear in soft tones the joyous adoration of those who have the privilege of beholding Jesus, and we ourselves would not be able to behold Him in His beauty.

May many of us receive a new hunger and thirst to make Jesus rejoice, because we want to be with Him in the City of God and at the marriage of the Lamb, for this is His joy, not only ours. May God bless you.