But you have a few names in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; they will walk with Me in white, because they are worthy. Rev. 3:4.
In the Hebrew language "walking" was a metaphor for the total experience of everyday life. Our character is the sum total of the way that we "walk" from day to day. The church at Sardis had some serious deficiencies on the whole, but there still remained a few believers there whose character suggested that they would one day walk with Jesus in eternity.
In the old city of Jerusalem you can tell the age of a pavement or a staircase by the amount of wear in the stones. Considering the hardness of most rocks, it is an amazing thing to realize that over a few hundred years the constant shuffling of sandaled feet can actually cut groves and depression into granite, slate, marble, and other types of paving stones. Each time a foot slides over a stone, it wears away a microscopic puff of dust from a stone. Tens of thousands of steps leave a permanent impression.
My favorite spot to observe this is the newly excavated staircase below the south wall of the Temple mount. It was the main entrance into the Temple courts from the south. Pilgrims coming up from Bethlehem, Beersheba, or Hebron would ascend these stairs to gates that passed under the royal portico and into the Court of the Gentiles, where Jesus drove out the moneychangers. While the gates into the Temple area have long ago been bricked over, archaeologists have newly exposed the steps leading up to them. Sitting on those stairs one can view the City of David (the original city) angling down toward the Pool of Siloam and covered in part by the Arab village of Silwan. One can also see the hills that continue to separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem.
Since the staircase was unearthed in severely damaged form, experts have restored a portion with fresh stones so that visitors can gain a sense of what it must have looked like in Jesus' day. Interspersed among the fresh stones, however, are the rounded remnants of paving stones that withstood the grinding of countless feet for more than 1,000 years. It is thrilling to walk or sit on these stones, realizing that Jesus and His disciples had certainly passed over them.
In today's world, where constant change is the norm, it is helpful to remember that others have gone before us, Never alone in our spiritual pilgrimage, we can seek out mentors and guides to help us overcome our most difficult moments. And above all, the well-worn steps that lead to God are before us every day in the Bible. When we open the ancient Word and listen to its voice, we can find solid ground for our feet.
Lord, open my mind today to learn something of value from everyone I meet.
In the Hebrew language "walking" was a metaphor for the total experience of everyday life. Our character is the sum total of the way that we "walk" from day to day. The church at Sardis had some serious deficiencies on the whole, but there still remained a few believers there whose character suggested that they would one day walk with Jesus in eternity.
In the old city of Jerusalem you can tell the age of a pavement or a staircase by the amount of wear in the stones. Considering the hardness of most rocks, it is an amazing thing to realize that over a few hundred years the constant shuffling of sandaled feet can actually cut groves and depression into granite, slate, marble, and other types of paving stones. Each time a foot slides over a stone, it wears away a microscopic puff of dust from a stone. Tens of thousands of steps leave a permanent impression.
My favorite spot to observe this is the newly excavated staircase below the south wall of the Temple mount. It was the main entrance into the Temple courts from the south. Pilgrims coming up from Bethlehem, Beersheba, or Hebron would ascend these stairs to gates that passed under the royal portico and into the Court of the Gentiles, where Jesus drove out the moneychangers. While the gates into the Temple area have long ago been bricked over, archaeologists have newly exposed the steps leading up to them. Sitting on those stairs one can view the City of David (the original city) angling down toward the Pool of Siloam and covered in part by the Arab village of Silwan. One can also see the hills that continue to separate Jerusalem from Bethlehem.
Since the staircase was unearthed in severely damaged form, experts have restored a portion with fresh stones so that visitors can gain a sense of what it must have looked like in Jesus' day. Interspersed among the fresh stones, however, are the rounded remnants of paving stones that withstood the grinding of countless feet for more than 1,000 years. It is thrilling to walk or sit on these stones, realizing that Jesus and His disciples had certainly passed over them.
In today's world, where constant change is the norm, it is helpful to remember that others have gone before us, Never alone in our spiritual pilgrimage, we can seek out mentors and guides to help us overcome our most difficult moments. And above all, the well-worn steps that lead to God are before us every day in the Bible. When we open the ancient Word and listen to its voice, we can find solid ground for our feet.
Lord, open my mind today to learn something of value from everyone I meet.
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