If you have been a Christian for any length of time, surely you know what it is to feel complacent, cold, sluggish, and even stagnant in your walk with Christ. Pressures of the home or family, the job, and a thousand other things seem to squeeze the life right out of us, or at least crowd out any room for fervent devotion to Jesus. Our first inclination many times is to look at our schedules as the cause of our spiritual stagnation. Perhaps we feel that a vacation is in order to refresh us spiritually. Yet we all know that although vacations can remove us from the routine, they can never remove the routine from us. In other words, whatever you stress over in Phoenix, you’re still going to stress over in Cancun.
I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.—Revelation 3:18
Three things are identified as needing to be restored:
- First, a restoration of spiritual values—This is the “…gold refined by fire so that you may become rich…” True worth comes not from what the world values, but it lies in what Christ offers to those who believe.
- Second, a restoration of spiritual virtues—This is the acquiring of “…white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed…” What the Christian needs is true righteousness because the world can see right through the pretense of a shallow and unrighteous life.
- Third, a restoration of spiritual vision—This is the “…eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.” There is a big difference between a carnal person and a worldly person. A carnal person indulges in the things of the flesh like fornication, smoking, drinking, cursing; these are all deeds of the flesh. A worldly person is one who gossips and seeks to keep up appearances for the sake of looking good in others’ eyes. However, both of these categories of sin have one thing in common: they cloud spiritual perception. Whenever you are not seeing spiritual things clearly, you’re in danger of perishing. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Prov.29:18a KJV).
Application
- Are you willing to face spiritual issues in your life that Christ exposes by His Word?
- Are you willing to change your ways according to His Word?
If so, approach Jesus by faith now. Acknowledge your need. Seek grace to do His will. Honestly admit that you have offended Him in your life and ask Him for the power to turn from it. If you are sincere, you will find Him!