Posted in Growing in the Lord
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Ask yourself these questions:
*What one thing do I think is of the most value to me?
**What is the one thing I think I cannot live without?
***What place does faith have in my life?
I was reading in 1 Peter one day when I came across a verse that talks about the trying of our faith being more precious than gold that perisheth. It struck me then that my faith is a very important part of my life (or it should be!). This is very evident in the very meaning of precious. Strong's concordance lists it as both a comparative and a superlative word. Thankfully my kids have been studying these terms in English! :) For those of you who haven't done this in a while, superlative simply means a comparison of three or more things. Comparative is a comparison of only two things. Good, better, best, for instance.
Anyway, back to my point. Precious, as I'm sure we all can deduce, means valuable. It can also mean honored, esteemed, and beloved. In the verse we are concentrating on today, we can conclude that the trying of our faith is worth more than gold. When compared with gold, it is has more worth and value and is held higher regard.
Why? What evidence is there that there is something in this world that is worth more than gold? Men have died for gold, they have sailed across the ocean to a wild, untamed land in search of it. But God tells us that gold perishes. In other words, it can be destroyed or come to ruin. It's an earthly treasure that we can lose or a thief can steal (Matthew 6:19 &20). When we die, we can't take it with us (Job 1:21; Psalm 49:16, 17).
The most amazing thing to me about this verse is that, though we are reminded that wordly treasures are corruptible, God also tells us that our faith, though it be tried (tested) by fire, becomes more precious and valuable. James 1:3 says that the trying of our faith works patience in our lives. This patience, in turn, perfects us and makes our faith entire (sound, pure, uncorrupt).
This, then, must be why our faith and the trying of it is so precious to us. Though we are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10), we must always be growing and God must perfect us. Our faith must become stronger and purer, and the only way that can be done is it is proved by God. We realize that even if we loose everything we hold dear, everything we deem valuable in our lives, nobody can take our faith from us. Our complete trust in God and our faithfulness to Him makes us more of who we are to be.
Where would we be without faith? I believe that we would be mighty poor indeed!
More on faith in another entry! :)
Julia
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Posted by Anonymous