Gold or Brass?

Today's question is more important that "Paper or plastic?" It is "Gold or brass?"

I’ve learned to pay attention when God repeats himself to me. In today’s Bible readings the Lord reinforced the idea of humility to me in two ways.

In addition to reading the 23^rd chapter from the gospel of Matthew, I also read 2 Chronicles 12 and the story of Judah’s King Rehoboam. God had abandoned the nation to King Shishak of Egypt because they had abandoned him. Shishak took the gold shields from the temple of God. Instead of crying out to God in humility and repentance, King Rehoboam made brass shields – cheap imitations of the real thing. They looked the same from a distance, but they were not pure gold. Rehoboam settled for appearances.

In the 23^rd chapter of Matthew, Jesus excoriates the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who loved the praise of men. Of them, Jesus said, “Everything they do is done for men to see.” They cared more about the appearance of godliness than the actual possession of it in their lives. The seven woes that follow in Matthew 23 are pronounced on the Pharisees and teachers of the law because they settled for brass instead of gold.

When I read Matthew 23, I ask myself, “Am I settling for brass shields when I could have gold?” Look closely at the seven woes in Matthew 23 and see if you are settling for…

• The brass of exclusion vs. the gold of inclusion?
• The brass of activity vs. the gold of integrity?
• The brass of formal rituals vs. the gold of God’s presence?
• The brass of the good vs. the gold of the best?
• The brass of exterior righteousness vs. the gold of interior righteousness?
• The brass of the cup vs. the gold of the contents?
• The brass of arrogance vs. the gold of repentance?

May you never settle for brass! May I never settle for brass! But, may we humble ourselves and allow God to be the shield of gold around us!

“For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23.12).