“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.”
Revelation 8:1
Brutal Honesty
A young man confided to me recently, “I want to have a relationship with God, but I can’t read my Bible all day like you do. I don’t think I could do that.”
This is how many people feel when they see a ‘pastor’ only in preaching or counselling situations. We are supposed to know what we’re talking about, and there is no excuse when we don’t.
But what is the secret to knowing God? How many hours must one spend in the Bible to maintain a proper connection to the Lord? What’s the magic number?
Heavenly Serenity
More people
admire the cover
than actually
read the words
The Holy Book opens in Revelation. The seals are torn off one by one as fantastic visions and terrifying judgments are loosed upon Earth. The ‘seals’ are not what binds it together, but what keeps it closed: unreadable and misinterpreted. (See Daniel 12:9)
The first four seals fall, and the horsemen of the apocalypse rage. The fifth breaks, and martyrs are rewarded with white robes. The sixth is loosed, and the sun, moon, stars, and all men everywhere tremble before the great day of the Lord.
It’s funny how many people know about these events in the Revelation, yet they don’t know Jesus Christ, or have any idea why God deals with people this way. But no mystery: they have never cracked open the Book, they are just admiring the seals!
The covers fall open finally in Revelation 8:1. And for the first and last time in the Word of God, a time of reading and reverence are inferred. Amazingly enough, for a Book that touches eternity at both ends, discloses the mind of God, and outlines His plan for the ages, the time seems very… brief.
We could spend hours in the Bible every day, and never exhaust it. But the Scriptures tell us much that we need to do before the Lord’s return. Therefore, if I could put a MINIMUM time on Bible reading at the start of my day, it would be Heaven’s half-hour of silence.
To the young man asking for a recommendation: spend 30 minutes quietly reading God’s Book every day. Don’t just know about God. Know God.
Spiritual Reload 