Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written
in it; for the time is near.
Revelation
1:3 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Revelation has always
been a “scary” book for me. It has always carried an apprehension with it which
I avoided as much as possible. The idea of the horrible things to come was not
one on which I wanted to dwell. So this blessing always confused me, because I
never felt any blessing from reading that book. But I recently went through a
study which opened my eyes to the beauty of Revelation. Yes it is about God’s
wrath on a sinful world which refuses to accept Him, but it is also evidence of
His patience and love, His grace and mercy, His unwillingness to let any perish.
He has already and will give every possible opportunity for the world to come
to know Him. It has become for me a cry from Jesus saying, “Come to Me! Turn to
Me! Won’t you listen!” But there is an added blessing which this verse reveals.
The key is in “hearing” and heeding or obeying what is written. Revelation is a
warning to us, to the world, of what will come if we do not repent and turn to
Him. We need to be mindful of that warning. We need to hear or absorb what is
said and respond to it accordingly. It is not enough to read it and never think
about it again. We need to let it sink into our hearts and transform us. We
need to apply what we read and not be like the man who looked in a mirror and
then forgot what he looked like when he turned away. This is possibly one of
the most important messages of the Bible. Hear the word of God and heed it!
Listen to His call for repentance and salvation and respond to it! Do not wait
too long or you may run out of time, for the time is near! I implore you; hear,
heed and be blessed!
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