FOOL'S GOLD AND BLIND FAITH
So I advise you to buy from me gold refined on the fire, to make you truly rich. Rev. 3:18, N.E.B.
In the gold rush of the mid 1800s, many people set their sights on California. Often selling all they possessed, they migrated west in hope of striking it rich. Some did strike it rich, most did not. Perhaps the saddest stories told are about those who thought they had when, in fact, their claims consisted of pyrite--fool's gold!
In the book of Revelation are chronicled the seven different phases of the Christian church since the days of the apostles. To Laodicea--those who live in the very end of time--God says,
"'You say, 'How rich I am! And how well I have done! I have everything I want.' In fact, though you do not know it, you are the most pitiful wretch, poor, blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17, N.E.B.).
How many times I have heard this passage read through clenched teeth, as if God could barely restrain His anger and disgust! Yet He clearly says in verse 19, "All whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (N.E.B.). With the concept of disciplining, we understand that it is with urgency that He would teach us our error in order to save us from being exposed and shamed. He even offers a solution: "I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, to make you truly rich" (verse 18, N.E.B.).
What is this preciously genuine gold He offers us? "These [trials] have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7, N.I.V.). It is our faith in God, as it is tested in the fires of personal experience, that brings us "all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2, 3, R.S.V.).
God does not desire us to have a blind faith in Him. If what we believe about Him does not integrate realistically and effectively into every facet of our lives and dealings with others, it's as good as fool's gold. The solution involves fellowship with Him. In essence He says, "I understand, and I want to help you. Let Me come have supper with you so we can talk!" (see Rev. 3:15, 20).
Let's hear Him out!
So I advise you to buy from me gold refined on the fire, to make you truly rich. Rev. 3:18, N.E.B.
In the gold rush of the mid 1800s, many people set their sights on California. Often selling all they possessed, they migrated west in hope of striking it rich. Some did strike it rich, most did not. Perhaps the saddest stories told are about those who thought they had when, in fact, their claims consisted of pyrite--fool's gold!
In the book of Revelation are chronicled the seven different phases of the Christian church since the days of the apostles. To Laodicea--those who live in the very end of time--God says,
"'You say, 'How rich I am! And how well I have done! I have everything I want.' In fact, though you do not know it, you are the most pitiful wretch, poor, blind, and naked" (Rev. 3:17, N.E.B.).
How many times I have heard this passage read through clenched teeth, as if God could barely restrain His anger and disgust! Yet He clearly says in verse 19, "All whom I love, I reprove and discipline" (N.E.B.). With the concept of disciplining, we understand that it is with urgency that He would teach us our error in order to save us from being exposed and shamed. He even offers a solution: "I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, to make you truly rich" (verse 18, N.E.B.).
What is this preciously genuine gold He offers us? "These [trials] have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:7, N.I.V.). It is our faith in God, as it is tested in the fires of personal experience, that brings us "all the riches of assured understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Col. 2:2, 3, R.S.V.).
God does not desire us to have a blind faith in Him. If what we believe about Him does not integrate realistically and effectively into every facet of our lives and dealings with others, it's as good as fool's gold. The solution involves fellowship with Him. In essence He says, "I understand, and I want to help you. Let Me come have supper with you so we can talk!" (see Rev. 3:15, 20).
Let's hear Him out!
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