Silver and Gold

1 Peter 1:18-21, "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver of gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God."

The Holy Spirit of God placed this divine passage upon my heart this afternoon. I believe that it was divinely placed there for my own benefit, but also for the benefit of others, that together we might be reminded to keep our eyes on Jesus this time of year. This seems almost incredulous. How can I not be reminded that Christmas is a time to remember the Christ. And yet year after year I am reminded that the Church herself falls prey to worldly indebtedness and bondage through  material pursuits. "Blessed is the one who gives" the Scriptures tell us...unless there is no reciprocation. 

I must admit that this temptation is getting easier to avoid the older I get. There isn't much that I need or want, at least anything that I cannot go out and buy for myself if the finances are present. I am less content with the stuff and seeking that which has a greater value to me. 


When I was a kid one of my favorite Christmas programs was Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. And one of my favorite songs was by folk-singer, Burl Ives, "Silver and Gold." 

Silver and gold

Silver and gold

Ev'ryone wishes

For silver and gold

How do you measure

It's worth?

Just by the pleasure it

Gives here on Earth

Silver and gold

Silver and gold

Mean so much more

When I see

Silver

And gold decorations

On ev'ry Christmas tree

Silver and gold

Silver and gold

Wise men brought gifts

To the mange I'm told

Mary was humble to see

Shepherds and kings

There on bended knees

It's silver and gold

Silver and gold

Feeling the world

With their lives

Silver and gold

How they shimmer

On ev'ry Christmas night

On ev'ry Christmas night

In this season of Advent (Coming) I am reminded that silver and gold have no value in themselves. It is only the value that is placed on them by humanity - either through their greed, their need, or their worship. 

Because they are precious metals, humanity, in their greed seeks to acquire them for the ease of life they will produce and for the power that they convey. 

Because they are valued metals they are useful in all kinds of instruments and equipment. They are being used to make our lives better and at times more pleasing. 

But because of the first two they should be put in their proper position at the feet of the dear Savior. For silver and gold could not buy us the pardon we seek. Silver and gold could not assuage the wrath of a Holy God for he created the very glittering veins in the earth. Anything of such value should be placed in its proper perspective; they are simply gifts of worship to lay before the King and Creator. 

I am reminded that their is something more precious, more powerful than any glittering stone found in this universe:  the blood of Jesus. It is that crimson flood that covers my sin. It is the staining fluid of life that in some miraculous way makes me white as the winter snow. 

As we are reminded this time of year of our dear Savior's first coming may we be acutely aware of his second. Not only was his birth preordained before the creation of the world but also his return. Will I be caught up in a world full of glittering silver and gold or will it simply remind me of the preciousness of my Lord?