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From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God (Revelation 4:5, ESV).
Around the 4th of July, I often hear the phrase “Red, White, and Boom!” What began as a modest park celebration in 1981 on the banks of the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio, has now become a daylong event of street festivals, bands, and too many hot dogs eaten!
Attended by over 400,000 people, the main event of the day is literally a “Red, White, and Boom!” of over $300,000 of fireworks launched to synchronized music played on local radio stations.
Located just a 45-minute drive from my house, I’ve never attended. Instead, I go to bed at 9:30 p.m. and try to sleep while the doctor next door shoots off what seems like over $300,000 worth of fireworks starting when I put my head on the pillow and ending about 6 p.m. on July 5th.
Whether we like it or not, everyone in the U.S.A. experiences some sort of “Red, White, and Boom!” on July 4th. And like it or not, all of us will see God on His throne. In Revelation 4, we find multitudes of heavenly beings worshipping with absolute joy…
Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11).
While others will not be so thrilled…
Then everyone – the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person – all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb (Revelation 6:15-16, NLT).
I heard one of my favorite preachers, Rick Ives, say, “If you worship God on earth, you will experience ultimate glory in heaven; but if you worship self, flesh, power, and the money of earth, seeing a holy God on Judgment Day will be the most frightening experience imaginable.”
Our life will come down to a celestial “Red, White, and Boom!” of throwing our crowns before a throne surrounded by majesty, or a realization of a life poorly lived, of our true motives and actions revealed for all to see, and the only hope left — to somehow hide from this reckoning.
We have lots to be thankful for in America. I often Zoom® with pastors in third-world countries who are dripping with sweat while I explain one-to-one disciple-making to them from an air conditioned room. I just read an article about how American engineers have learned to safely extract oil from shale in the Gulf of America, where deposits reach 20,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. And my children follow God and are productive in a manner only possible in the United States.
For God, country, and family, I’m grateful. Red, White, and Boom! Now, if I can just get some sleep.