January 7
"Because you say, 'I am rich, have
become wealthy,
and have need of nothing,'
and
do not know that you are wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and
naked,
I counsel you to buy from
me
gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich;
and
white garments, that you may be clothed,
that
the shame of your nakedness
may not be revealed;
and
anoint your eyes with eye salve,
that you may see."
Revelation
3:17-18
Those who think they have everything they need,
those who think they're rich - these are actually the poor. Look at
the cathedrals and mega-churches - how they truly believe they are
rich - but there is no life in them, for life doesn't dwell in gold
and silver and ivory and brass. In fact, the accumulation of these
things kills life, shifts the focus of the eyes on false richness, on "prosperity," while blinding them to the life of God that doesn't come with these
things.
Those who think they are 'good,' who comfort
themselves that they do good works and are therefore going to heaven,
these are the naked, not clothed with the righteousness of Christ,
but with their own righteousness.
Those who think they see,
and follow rites and rituals that they grew up learning to do, these
are the blind. It's not rituals, it's not religion, it's being born
again that saves a person. Religion, in fact, can prevent one from
being born again because religion makes a person "feel"
they are saved, when they very well might not be.
When the
Lord says, "I counsel you..." --- heed that command. Reread
what he said, then follow it.
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