Skip to main content

A Hidden Treasure


  In 1954 the temple of Wat Traimit, in Bangkok, Thailand was to be moved to a new building, The last order of the move was the transport of a giant Buddha statue that had been in that spot for over 200 years. The statue, that was thought to made of stucco and glass, proved to be much heavier than expected. As they attempted to lift the statue from its pedestal, the ropes broke, and the statue fell hard on the ground chipping off the plaster. They then saw why it was so heavy. The plaster was covering about 250 million dollars’ worth of gold. At some point in the past the gold statue was covered, probably to keep it from being stolen.  Ironically, once the plaster was removed they found the original designers had made the statue disassemble so it would be easily moved.


   This is akin to what has happened in Christianity over the last two thousand years. The pure glory of the church of the first century has been obscured by the changes made by man over time. Some done so long ago no one realized they were not meant to be there in the first place. In order to placate the selfish desires of men, the true church has been plastered over. Yet under all the mess is something of great value. If we will break the inferior we can go back to the superior.


  We don’t need all the inferior additions. We need to back to the pure original design. The creator and head of the church designed it so it would be easily moved into any generation still perfect and right. The changes we make just make it worse. His design for His Church is a treasure far more valuable than any amount of gold!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Mysterious Ways

    William Cowper didn’t see any reason to live.   He decided that he’d jump off the bridge over the Thames. So, he called a cab to take him there.   But that night in 1763, a thick fog enveloped London. It was so thick the cab driver couldn’t find the bridge and couldn’t even find the way to take William home. In frustration, he ordered the driver to stop and get out to get his bearings. He walked up to the nearest house to read the number and it was William's house. Gone now were William’s thoughts of suicide and instead a new idea came into his head. So, he went in and wrote these words: God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.  You fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head.     I sometimes wish we could see all the ways God watches over us when need it. There are...

The Gift You Give Yourself

    I always hated buying gifts for my Mom. If I got her something like a new set of pans, it was like saying “Here’s something you can use to go make me something to eat”. A gift for her was seemingly a gift for me.   There are however gifts you give that benefit you more than the receiver. For example, forgiveness. When you give it, you are giving it to yourself as much as you are giving it to them. Jesus said that when we forgive others it means God is forgiving us our wrongs (Matthew 6:14-15).  I once read: “ Heaven is where everyone's forgiven. Hell is where nobody's forgiven.  So, when we forgive we pull heaven down into our lives.  When we withhold forgiveness, we pull hell up into our lives ” Give yourself something nice today, Forgive.

Canned Faith

  As Dale Jenkins wrote: “Faith is a little like paint. As long as it’s in the can, it isn't much. Left in the can long enough a gallon of paint will ruin. Faith left unpracticed and unexercised will too….  You can’t just talk about faith.  To be effective, you must be living it out. So take the paint out of the can and start painting.”   The Bible says in James 2:18,”  But someone may well say, "You have faith and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works . " Faith is something that only works when it is used. If our faith doesn’t do anything, is it really there at all?   Truly “ living by faith ” isn’t just a proclamation we make but one we live in how we walk and talk, how we live and interact, and what we say but also what we do.  Is our faith canned? Is it something we have if we go looking for it? Or is it something that is being used daily in our lives?   Does your faith color eve...