Distance Devotions        –        April 19, 2020

Revelation 1:3                –        The Blessings of Reading God’s Word

Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

There was a time in America when we trained our school children to read using the Bible and the McGuffey Reader books.  Our literacy rate was high and we were inculcating the principles of a godly population under a Constitution that was based on Judeo-Christian principles and truths.  The reading of God’s Word in our schools helped to frame a civil society different than anything else in the world.  We have long ago left that model behind and, in my opinion, are paying a high price for having done so.  Nevertheless, the promise of being blessed for reading the Word of God remains sure.

These weeks of stay at home and inability to meet together for corporate worship have provided extra opportunity for reading.  I cannot emphasize too strongly how important it is to get your children to read.  It expands the mind and helps them to think things through.  Likewise, I cannot over-emphasize the importance of every believer spending time in the Word of God.  We claim to believe it; let us also read it.  There are wondrous stories in the Bible.  Stories of heroes, heroines, great battles, and love stories.  We learn the history of the Jewish people and the forty years in the wilderness.  Specifically, our text speaks of the blessing of reading the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  It is a book of prophecy.  From chapter four and forward all is prophetic.  The rapture, the tribulation, and the return of the Lord to this earth are all contained in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.  Spend time today, and every day, in the Word of God.  You will never regret having done so.

Pastor F. J. Weems III