Opus 2026-038: Uncharted Revelation: Common Denominator

I’m breaking off bits and pieces as I try to find the reason why so many people focus on the book of Revelation.  I just read over the first four churches addressed in chapter 2, and it seemed like there was a pattern at least in three of them, a pattern of praise mixed with admonitions to do better.

Part of that admonition is to never give up reaching for the higher level.  There’s always growth available to us.  As an old man, that’s something I need to be reminded of.  I want to rest on my laurels.  I want to be relaxed and unhurried.  A bit of that is OK, but we always need to realize that we could do better.

Look at the church in Ephesus.  They are praised at the beginning.  As they are giving each other high-fives, and patting each other on the back, He then says, “But this I have against you….”  That seems to be the pattern in these churches.  So you can see that as much as we may have been doing right, so far, and Jesus acknowledges that we have done good things, we need to get on with the job.

Of course I am spiritualizing a bit here.  I’m taking what was said to a specific church in the Middle East 2000 years ago and addressing it to us today, specifically to me.  I think that’s part of the reason why we have these letters.  Have you ever asked yourself why did the Holy Spirit choose to preserve these specific writings for us today?  I think most of us understand the idea of them being inspired as they are written to the recipients, but why preserve them if there’s not something for us to take and find application for.  Some people can belittle that as spiritualizaion. I would say it’s simply applying God‘s word as He intended.

So get with it.  I was having a conversation with a lady about the joys of retirement.  I was focusing on the fact that it gave me more time for worship and focusing on the things of God.  I think that’s true.  The problem is that when we use that as an excuse not to turn up the fire and keep seeking new skills and new insights.  It was a good conversation.  It was a good reading of Revelation.

I hope Revelation continues to surprise me.

homo unius libri