Reading the Word of God

            There are some things that we may take for granted, one of such items, might be the ability to read. Naturally, you get this devotion via the internet and perhaps you read it on Facebook or have your own copy. Irregardless of how you get your own copy, you must then read it. Reading is important in nearly all cultures if you want to know the answers to the questions of life. Some of those questions might be, “Where did I come from?” “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” Your answers will probably depend on how much you know and how much you know will depend on whether you can read or not. Wycliffe Translators has an interesting display in one of their facilities at Waxhaw, North Carolina. It is a building dedicated to the history of alphabets and language called the museum of the alphabet. Revelation 1:3 says, “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.” 

            You may take for granted your ability to read. Some of you may be able to speak more than one language but for the most part, the majority of you all are probably English speaking people. Statistics tell us that there are about 6,500 different languages. How many different languages can you name? Some are used more than others. There are about 328 million people in the United States and for the most part, English is one of the most used by a majority of the people although we often see a lot of Spanish and French being used on the written material on a product. The important thing in all of this is that God has chosen to give us a copy of His Word written in a language that we can understand. Men and women died for the translation of that word from Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic to give us a copy of His Word. You may have your copy on your coffee table, or perhaps on your desk or kitchen table where you can get to it or where you last left it when you came into the house. The Words of God to us have been important ever since the days of Moses. God directed Moses to write down the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible and from there it grew to the now 66 books of the Old Testament and the New Testament. As we read His Word for ourselves, we soon learn the answers to the three basic questions. We can know where we came from, Why we are here and where we are going. God's Word tells us that. Revelation 1:3 is unique in that it contains a blessing for those who read and hear the words of “this” prophecy. Some have missed this blessing because they feel that the Book of Revelation is too hard to understand. God just told you to read it and to hear it and to keep those things that are written in it because the time is at hand. I have a Bible program that has different translations in it. I downloaded one called the “Chamacoco” translation simply because I know one of the men who translated this Bible for the Chamacoco people in Paraguay so that they can be blessed by reading God's Word, even the book of Revelation. The question today is, “Are we reading the Word of God that He has so freely given to each and every one of us?” A special blessing awaits those who read the Bible and especially those who read the Book of Revelation. It tells us so right in the beginning of the book. Praise God for His Word. May we all spend a portion of each and every day reading it.