We live in a busy world. A world ruled by the quest to attain success and superiority, sometimes almost at any costs. As Christians, it is sometimes easy to get carried away with the hustle and bustle of the affairs of life and forget the true purpose for our presence on this earth; to do and accomplish the will of God for our lives.
In the book of Revelation, the bible says:
And unto the angel of the Church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would that thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I councel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous therefore, and repent. – Revelations 3:14-19
If we are not careful, it may be easy to “wax cold” in our love for the Lord and for his work. Almost unconsciously, we begin to place work, family and in general other seemingly important things before He that is most important.
I believe the Lord is calling us back to him; to come sit at his feet. I believe he is calling us to spend time before him in worship and loving adoration, forgetting the cares and troubles of the world. It is time for us to heed that call.
A call to Sit at Jesus’ Feet
If we get carried away with the affairs of this life, there is the tendency for us to believe we have all we need. We begin to say in our hearts like the early Church of Laodicea said “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing”, without realizing that there is nothing we have received that was not given to us by the Lord in the first place (1 Corinthians 4:7). In Revelations chapter 3, the Lord called this mindset and spiritual attitude an attitude of being lukewarm (vs. 16). He also went on to point out to them that they were not only poor but that they were in fact wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked! What a most pitiable state to ignorantly live in.
Today, as the Lord did about two thousand years ago through John the Apostle, the Lord is counseling us to buy from him gold that has been tried in the fire, which is the Word of God as revealed by his Spirit. He is asking us to buy white raiment for clothing to cover our nakedness which is the righteousness that comes through faith in Jesus Christ and not by our own works or self righteousness. He is also asking us to get from Him eye-salve to anoint our eyes with so we can see; which is to surrender to him and to his corrections so we can see our wrongs, be washed by his blood and receive his direction (vs. 18).
We must repent from the pride of our hearts. We must turn from our false mindset of self sufficiency and repent of this pride and self righteousness and cry unto the Lord for forgiveness. Then, the Lord will have mercy on us (Joel 2:17-18). Regardless of who we are, our social, economic positions or even the level of our education, we must come before his presence in humility and reverence of his person. Only then will he accept us into his presence (Isaiah 57:15).
We must never become so proud as to think that we have all we need, wanting nothing. If we have everything else in the world and do not have him, we have nothing.
Please say this prayer of repentance with me:
Dear Lord, I see my fault. I see how I have sought to live my life without you and the leading of your Spirit. I acknowledge that I am not self sufficient. I need you in my life and I am sorry for thinking in my heart that I have everything when in fact I am wretched. I ask for your forgiveness and the cleansing of your blood. Help me buy the pure gold of your Word, tried in the fire. Help me buy white clothing to cover my nakedness and anoint my eyes with eye ointment that my eyes may be open indeed to your Word and direction. I ask this humbly, in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen
David Adeniji is the Founder and President of The Behold File, a teaching ministry founded in 2003. The Behold File provides a platform through which the Holy Spirit opens the eyes of men to see Jesus so they can be changed to be like him.