(Click here for a video of John reading this Catch.)

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. Revelation 1:3

I think Revelation should be required reading for all believers at least once a year. It’s a little like setting your watch. We can get so entrenched in everyday life that we lose sight of the bigger picture. The bigger picture — the forest we lose sight of for all the trees in front of us — is the fact that this world, and time itself, is passing away. There is an end in sight. Life does not go on indefinitely even if it feels like it.

Revelation is the wrap-up of the world. This is how it will end. Quite dramatically, too. God does things with a flourish. The knowledge of the end game carries a certain purification with it. You suddenly don’t want to get lost in a fantasy, trapped in a sin, or caught with your spiritual affairs not in order. Our sins and addictions are part and parcel of living in this world but not to be ignored. They too will pass, and knowing that can help lessen their power over us.

Note that there is a blessing for those who read, and those who take this prophesy to heart. I’m not sure what that blessing is, but I’m sure what we’re thinking about right now is part of it.

I was in a grocery store a while ago, selecting a few things to go in my basket, when the power went out. The employees had everyone clear out of the store since no one knew how long the power was going to be down. Nothing could be bought or sold without electricity. So I just set my basket of goods down and walked out of the store in a crowd with nothing in my hand. We all stood around for a bit in the parking lot in case it was just a few minutes power loss; it felt like a fire drill in grammar school. It also felt a little like Revelation. We lay down all the things of this world we’ve bought and sold — everything that has anything to do with us here — and walk out with nothing in our hands. Nothing in our hands … everything in our hearts. That’s the way we’ll go.