A daily devotional guide to the book of revelation
I'm not sure where I picked up this book but I suspect that it may have come from my local church when they were giving away a bunch of books that they didn't need anymore. It is a rather short book of devotions which means that it is not supposed to be read from cover to cover in a couple of sittings but rather, ideally, one devotion is read every day (there are thirty devotions which means that ideally the book takes a month to finish), and after reading the devotion (and the accompanying Bible study) then you reflect on what has just been said.
Mind you these days I generally just read through any devotions that I get and unless something important is needed to be said at the time, I simply just put it down and move on. Sometimes there may be something relevant in the devotion, but many of them just seem to be pie in the sky statements that really have little to do with every day life. However, as I said, when something does need to be said sometimes it is said and if we are keeping out ears open we will hear it: it is just that we need to keep our ears open because if they are not then we are likely to miss it.
The funny thing about devotionals is that it can be hard (actually impossible) for the one devotional to apply to every reader's particular circumstances, which is why, as I suggested, they can be somewhat airy fairy at times, and to be quite honest with you, I am not really interested in reading airy fairy Christian books when I generally what something with a lot more substance. However, there is also the issue that Church leaders suggest that we regularly, in fact religiously, read our Bible, though that suddenly comes across to me as some form of salvation by works. I guess it comes down to the attitude in which we read our Bible – are we reading it because we believe that by doing so ritually it puts us on the right side of God, or are we reading it because there is a lot of meaningful and challenging things that are said and that a growing familiarity with the concepts that comes out of the bible helps us to grow as individuals and become a more productive and valued member of the community.
As for the subject of this particular book, it is basically an exposition of the book of Revelations. Any Christian book on Revelation generally is met by me with scepticism, especially since a lot of these books seem to focus on unhelpful interpretations of God's wrath and his smiting of humanity as well as a means to predict the future. This little book does not do that and approaches Revelation in a way that was intended to be approached, namely a book that is designed to provide comfort. The whole message of Revelation can be summed up this simple statement: 'yes, this world sucks, but we have better things to look forward to'. This is something that I believe this book does well as opposed to getting caught up with attempting to decipher beasts, seals, and the many other aspects of Revelation that certain groups spend to much time trying to interpret (and most likely getting it wrong in the process).
