Real Gold
by Joan Rieber
via Sentry Magazine, Vol. 9, No. 11, November 30, 1983
The gift-giving seasons emphasize a paradox. Stores and catalogs are full of things made of gold despite the extremely high price of this metal in recent years. Delicate design and fine workmanship raise the price of some of these articles even higher. The eye is enticed with a glittering array of earrings, necklaces, rings, etc. We are told, "Nothing feels like real gold." The more expensive it is, the more we want it. Everyone wants something made of this beautiful metal and the great cost seems only to increase our determination to obtain it. Countless sacrifices are made so that "real gold" may be possessed.
Almost two thousand years ago, other people who had felt this same fascination were told: "I counsel thee to buy of me gold refined by fire, that thou mayest become rich..." (Revelation 3:18). No doubt they, too, felt very up-to-date and elegant in whatever ornaments were in style at the time, but God saw them in a different light: "Knowest thou not that thou art the wretched one and miserable and poor and blind and naked..." (Revelation 3:17). How many of us today does God see in the same light? How much better would it be to sacrifice for a "faith, more precious than gold" that "may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (I Peter 1:7). My golden chain, my rings, may last, or they may not last to be inherited by my children, but they will certainly be of no value to me after the death of my body. The faith that Peter describes leads to an "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven" (I Peter 1:4), but we are so occupied with trinkets and baubles that have no lasting value to us that we let the real treasures slip through our fingers. There will be a city of gold, like crystal, embellished with precious stones and radiant with the glory of God. We may live in that city as kings and priests of the Most High God if we are determined to sacrifice for eternal things.
