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.<\/p>\n
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<\/em>…” (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<\/em>…” (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<\/em>” that “may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ<\/em>” (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<\/em>” (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.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[699],"class_list":["post-83948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-eternal-life"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":20392,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-do-good-people-suffer\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":0},"title":"Why Do Good People Suffer?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 25, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Based on a lesson developed by Darrell Hamilton Text: Hebrews 12:4-14 Write on board: SIN DISCIPLINE GOLD I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0We see and experience problems as we go through life. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes we wonder why these things happen. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If a person is trying to be good, why doesn\u2019t God protect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15158,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/if-god-knew-men-would-sin-why-did-he-create-the-world\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":1},"title":"If God knew men would sin, why did He create the world?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am wondering why God made everything: creation, mankind, and allowed everything to happen as it did in the Bible, especially since He knew what would eventually happen -- sin, unfaithfulness, redemption, etc. I guess this also relates to why God even created us? Answer: When I was walking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49798,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-did-david-prepare-for-a-silver-lampstand-when-the-tabernacle-had-a-gold-lampstand\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":2},"title":"Why did David prepare for a silver lampstand when the tabernacle had a gold lampstand?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: It says David prepared silver for the lampstand of silver, but in the tabernacle it was gold. Why does it say silver in Chronicles? Answer: \"The weight for the lampstands of gold, and their lamps of gold, by weight for each lampstand and its lamps; for the lampstands of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13728,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-will-heaven-be-like\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":3},"title":"What will heaven be like?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 28, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi! I am wondering what Heaven is going to be according to the Bible. Is it just worshiping God for eternity as Revelations 4 talks about? What about John 14, and the rooms, dwellings, or mansions that Jesus talks about? What else does the Bible say? Answer: When we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15790,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-david-do-some-of-the-preparatory-work-for-the-temple\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":4},"title":"Did David do some of the preparatory work for the Temple?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 17, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I know Solomon\u00a0built the temple;\u00a0David couldn't because of the wars he had been involved in (I Kings 5). But didn't David prepare some of the material for the building of the temple? Or was he involved a little in the preparation? Answer: \"Now it was in the heart of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":23755,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-reference-to-a-new-earth-given-so-we-can-understand-heaven-better\/","url_meta":{"origin":83948,"position":5},"title":"Is the reference to a new earth given so we can understand heaven better?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 11, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: The new heaven and the new earth in Revelation is being taken literally by my friend.\u00a0 I know it's referring to the spiritual earth.\u00a0 My grandson and I studied this scripture last night (Revelation 21:1-2).\u00a0 He brought up the fact that in Rome, the Christians were oppressed and God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83948","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83948"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83948\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83948"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83948"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83948"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}