Etch A Sketch

Revelation 21:4
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or sadness. There will be no more crying or pain. Things are no longer the way they used to be.”

Up and down or side to side, the two white knobs on the Etch a sketch are the only parts that move. It has not changed much over the years. You don’t need batteries or even electricity. The magic screen upon which your drawings appear is glass, covered with clear plastic film. Inside, aluminum powder and plastic beads respond to each turn of the knob. The left and right knobs control the rods inside, moving the stylus where the two meet.  When the stylus moves, it scrapes the screen leaving the line you see.

Those who have talent and patience enough can spend hours moving those two knobs creating a beautiful portrait or heavenly landscape. But, one little shake of the Etch a sketch in the wrong direction and the entire picture will be destroyed, or disappear. In a moment, what has taken hours and skill to produce is wiped away. But, not to fear, the slate is clean again and you can start over.

God created our surroundings by speaking them into existence. He used a rainbow of colors for his landscape on Earth. He made every detail unique. Then one day, He shook the earth. He made the rain cover and destroy everything. All that He saw as good and beautiful was destroyed. But, He allowed Noah and his family to survive and God started a new portrait.

Some day soon, this Earth will again shake. God will take his people to heaven and things that we had on our Earthly Etch a sketch will be wiped away. Nothing sad, nothing that makes us cry or causes us pain will ever appear again. We will see things we have never seen before. And we will be in awe of the sight before us. Forever, only things that make us smile and laugh will be with us in Heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ