Devotion / The best is yet to come

The best is yet to come! 

There’s a wonderful old gospel song that says:

Oh, the best is yet to come when I walk through Heaven’s gate,

The first time I see Jesus I can hardly wait.

He’ll show me to my mansion, say, “Child, this is your home.”

Oh, I have a feeling in my heart the best is yet to come! 

Meet Nathanael

A fisherman from the city of Cana, Nathanael could thank his close companion Philip for introducing him to the Savior. In John 1 we read about Jesus calling Nathanael. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph” (1:45).  

But unlike many of the other disciples, Nathanael did not immediately believe. He had some questions that needed to be addressed. Nathanael wanted to be certain Jesus was the real thing, so he asked, “How do you know me?” (1:48). Jesus answered that he had seen Nathanael under a fig tree. Jesus now had Nathanael’s attention, and he was impressed. 

Jesus’s next words were worth remembering, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that” (1:50). What a profound statement! In other words, he was telling Nathanael, “Son, you haven’t seen anything yet!”  

During the next few years, Nathanael would indeed witness great things like the lame walking, the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, and even the dead rising to life again. Nathanael would see the seas calmed, water become wine, and thousands fed with a few biscuits and fish. He would grieve over Jesus’ death and find ecstasy in Jesus’ resurrection. Living with Jesus was going to be a time of witnessing miracle after miracle. What a future was in store for Nathanael!

We haven’t seen anything yet!

But that isn’t all that Jesus was speaking of. Because he came to forgive all sins to all people, he had even more planned for Nathanael and everyone else who believes in Jesus. He was also speaking of the unbelievable wonders we will behold in heaven. They will be far more than we can begin to imagine. What a sight we will see! What a sound we will hear! What a time we will have! Heaven will be so far off the charts that we can only imagine Jesus’s words that we will see greater things than this.

The apostle Paul wrote, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him (1 Corinthians 2:9). What a beautiful way to say that the best is yet to come!

By Reynold R. Kremer