![]() Clothing helps us to distinguish people and groups. "White garments" contrast with their nakedness. ![]() God advises them to obtain spiritual riches produced through trials, which the self-sufficient Laodicean avoids by compromising. Gold, spiritual riches ( I Peter 1:7), contrasts with the word "poor," and fire symbolizes trial. ![]() Gold, clothing, and eye salve represent the three major industries of Laodicea: banking, textiles, and medicines. It is not so that he can see other people or other things, but so he can specifically see God! He also wants him to produce righteousness, so he can put on that white clothing representing pure character-so he can "purchase" the spiritual riches that actually mean something, the heavenly treasure Jesus speaks about in Matthew 6:20. Since he has everything all figured out, and all his needs and many of his desires are met, he in his heart of hearts believes that he really does not need God!Ĭhrist's advice to the Laodicean is to get eye salve so he can see. He is so focused on other things-usually his own well-being-that he cannot see God. Externally, he looks like a good guy, and righteous too, but all the while, inside he is something else: He is totally hypocritical. However, a Laodicean pretends to be righteous. God wants him to be zealous, but not at making money, not at building his house, not at flitting off to various vacations, not at filling his social calendar. The Laodicean is not lazy he is instead distracted with busyness, with this world, with getting ahead in life, with everything else rather than what he should be involved in-the things of God. Why? Because he is busy doing something else. ![]() He is blind to God at work in his life and in the lives of others. He is trying to get us to repent, which is what chastening is all about. God is willing to go to great lengths to get our attention and get us to turn so that we will buy gold refined in the fire, get proper white garments, and anoint our eyes with eye salve. Give me the strength to do the right thing when I’m being entertained. Prayerĭear Lord, I want to make a covenant with my eyes to refrain from gazing at sin. We must pay attention to our conscience as God is calling His people to pull away from the desires of the flesh and press closer to Him. The question to answer is not “how far should we go in our entertainment preferences?” Rather it’s how far do we want to grow in our relationship with God? If we are expecting great things from God…then we will gladly change the channel or turn the TV off in order to be ready for His plan for our lives. We have the Holy Spirit living within us and we subject Him to the futility of our flesh when we press on to entertain ourselves with ungodliness. Many of us are tempted to go further than what we would’ve done if it wasn’t for that seed of temptation being placed before our eyes. It’s important to make a covenant with our eyes to not gaze upon the sinfulness around us. There’s something about watching R-rated entertainment that drains righteousness and purity from our hearts whether we realize it or not. However, we can’t trample through the muddy sinfulness in front of our eyes and believe that we don’t get dirty. Many of us think that we are safe because we know Jesus and we would never do the sins that are on the TV. ![]()
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