And when he opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, "Come!" And I saw, and behold, a pale horse, and the one sitting upon it was named Death, and Hades followed after him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with the sword, with famine, with pestilence, and by the beasts of the earth. Rev. 6:7, 8.
This seal is the third in a series of deepening disasters. While the language is literal, speaking of war, famine, and pestilence, the description reflects the progressive spiritual decline of those who reject the gospel. To reject the gospel is like removing sunshine and moisture from a plant's environment. Nothing can grow without water and light.
A friend recently took on a difficult project--a stable area in his family's back yard. He decided to begin repair work on the oldest section of the stable. The room was in dire need of repair. One wall was almost falling down, cobwebs hung everywhere, and the floor had almost wholly rotted out. The whole place was filled with junk of various kinds, and it was with some trepidation that he began the process of clearing everything out so he could begin the restoration process.
The first order of business, then, was to remove all the junk from the room and knock the one wall down before it collapsed of its own accord. That done, Jim had to decide whether to remove the existing floor or build on top of it. Finally he began to rip out the floor that had almost totally rotted out after decades of neglect.
The demolition of the floor exposed the ground underneath the stable. Jim was really surprised by the absolute "death" that existed underneath the floor after several decades. The soil beneath the structure had turned into a very fine powdery substance. Because no moisture or light had reached it for years, the ground almost completely lacked any kind if life. The only things living there were some nasty-looking bugs that spent their existence boring aimlessly through a maze of silver dust.
Our spiritual life will rapidly decline unless nurtured by the water of the Word and the sunlight of God's love. The end result of spiritual neglect is a life full of "bugs" and the dry desert of discouragement. But we can grow spiritually when we open ourselves up to God and His Word. Spiritual renewal means ripping open the floorboards of sin that separate us from God and tearing down the walls of distrust and distraction that keep the Son from shining in. The One who created the world from nothing can then bring life even to the spiritually dead.
Lord, today I choose to open myself to the light and moisture of Your presence. Remove the spiritual obstacles in my life and fill me with Your refreshing Word.
This seal is the third in a series of deepening disasters. While the language is literal, speaking of war, famine, and pestilence, the description reflects the progressive spiritual decline of those who reject the gospel. To reject the gospel is like removing sunshine and moisture from a plant's environment. Nothing can grow without water and light.
A friend recently took on a difficult project--a stable area in his family's back yard. He decided to begin repair work on the oldest section of the stable. The room was in dire need of repair. One wall was almost falling down, cobwebs hung everywhere, and the floor had almost wholly rotted out. The whole place was filled with junk of various kinds, and it was with some trepidation that he began the process of clearing everything out so he could begin the restoration process.
The first order of business, then, was to remove all the junk from the room and knock the one wall down before it collapsed of its own accord. That done, Jim had to decide whether to remove the existing floor or build on top of it. Finally he began to rip out the floor that had almost totally rotted out after decades of neglect.
The demolition of the floor exposed the ground underneath the stable. Jim was really surprised by the absolute "death" that existed underneath the floor after several decades. The soil beneath the structure had turned into a very fine powdery substance. Because no moisture or light had reached it for years, the ground almost completely lacked any kind if life. The only things living there were some nasty-looking bugs that spent their existence boring aimlessly through a maze of silver dust.
Our spiritual life will rapidly decline unless nurtured by the water of the Word and the sunlight of God's love. The end result of spiritual neglect is a life full of "bugs" and the dry desert of discouragement. But we can grow spiritually when we open ourselves up to God and His Word. Spiritual renewal means ripping open the floorboards of sin that separate us from God and tearing down the walls of distrust and distraction that keep the Son from shining in. The One who created the world from nothing can then bring life even to the spiritually dead.
Lord, today I choose to open myself to the light and moisture of Your presence. Remove the spiritual obstacles in my life and fill me with Your refreshing Word.
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