Keeping words

John pronounces a blessing on those who “keep” the things written in the book (Revelation 1:3).

That certainly includes “doing what the book requires,” but Revelation is not mainly a set of orders but an unveiling of Jesus. Keeping thhe words of the book includes but is not exhausted by the category of “obedience” to the word.

Keeping is guarding. Words are treasures, God’s word the most precious treasure. Keeping the words of the book means not only obeying but admiring, delighting in, desiring them. When He speaks, we should lay up His words, like the tablets in the ark, in the inner sanctuary of our hearts. We should bring out His words regularly to admire their beauty. We should run our fingers through His words, and delight at how they ring as they fall in heaps.

In this, as in so much else, Mary is our model, Mary who treasured these things in her heart.