Revelation 3:18–19: “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. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”

August 27th, 2022 by Pastor Ed in devotional

In chapter 2 and 3 of Revelation, Jesus Christ gives the apostle John messages for the different churches that existed in Asia Minor. His messages still apply to the church today. To the church of Laodicia (modern day Denizli, Turkey), Jesus warns them about their “lukewarm” condition and tells them to buy 3 things from Him. First, Jesus tells them (and us) to buy refined gold from Him. For ages, ancient metalworkers have released the precious rare metal, gold, from its naturally occurring ore by heating and refining the ore in a crucible with a great deal of heat. The ore impurities are lighter than the heavy metal and rise to the surface as the gold approaches its melting point. A goldsmith easily scoops floating impurities off the liquid metal. The jeweler knows the gold is pure when he can see his reflection in the metal. Our God also knows we have been purified when He is able to see His own reflection in us. This leads us to a question we must ask ourselves, “Am I reflecting Jesus?”

The second thing Jesus tells this church to buy is “white garments.” Today, in the area around ancient Laodicea, there are still textile factories producing household white linen just as when Jesus gave this warning to the church there. The picture is that we all need to be clothed in the “righteousness of Christ” since that alone is spiritually white and pure. So the second question we must ask ourselves is, “Am I relying on my own righteousness or on Jesus Christ’s righteousness?”

The third thing Jesus tells them to do is to “anoint [their] eyes with eye salve.” According to the ancient secular historian Strabo, there was a medical school in Laodicea where it seems “Phrygian powder” was produced from the “Phrygian stone,” which was used to make a medicine or salve for the eyes. So the third question we must ask is, “Can I see with spiritual eyes the needs around me?”

Wilbur Reese penned this ironic prayer in his 1971 book, $3.00 Worth of God:

I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. Not enough to explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough of Him to equal a cup of warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don’t want enough of Him to make me love [the person with a different color of skin or from a different country]. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a pound of the eternal in a paper sack, please. I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.

“LORD, we do not want to limit what You want to do in each of our lives. Please forgive us our sins and use us today to point others to You.”