Reading, hearing, and keeping

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. – Revelation 1v3

And so we enter the book of Revelation. In some respects I wish I could skip over this book, first because eschatology is definitely my weak point, and secondly I wonder how we can get any personal gleanings from such a prophetic book.

But then I read this in the introduction – ‘blessed is who reads and hears the word of this prophecy and keeps the things written in it because the time is near.’ That last phrase throws me a bit because this was written over 1900 years ago. I have to take it that those words come from God’s perspective that is outside time so that these events have been near for all believers of all time.

Anyway, there is a blessing for us as we enter this book. We are to read it, and as we read it we are to hear the message contained in it and apply it to our hearts. Not only that but we are to keep its words in our hearts as well.

After all this is God’s word. His word will not comeback void. His word is eternal. Having preserved His word He always has lessons for us.

Read, hear, and keep are good instructions for any portion of Hid word.