Rev3:17.
The church in Laodicea said, "I am wealthy and have become rich and have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17a).This does not refer to material riches,but to spiritual riches.She felt that she had something.But God said, "You...do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked"(v. 17b).Did she have something? Yes, but what she had was of no benefit to her.If she really had something,she should have rejoiced,yet she was wretched and miserable.She did not behave as if she had anything. Her wretchedness and misery tell others that she was poor.
Poverty is always linked to blindness.Those who are spiritually poor are always blind. The blind ones always think that they are rich.Those who have not seen the cross think that they know the cross.Those who have not seen the kingdom think that they know the kingdom.Those who have not seen the Body of Christ think that they know the church.All those who think that they have something are poor. Whenever we truly see something,we will not dare to boast that we are rich.Whenever our eyes are opened,we will see that we are naked.Only the foolish ones boast of what they have.A Laodicean is poor, but does not see his own poverty. This is a warning to us.
What is poverty?Poverty is not just a question of quantity but also a question of quality.First Corinthians 3 shows us the distinction between gold,silver, and precious stones,and the wood,grass, and stubble. Second Timothy 2 shows us the distinction between the vessels of honor and the vessels of dishonor.Such distinctions separate the poor ones from the rich ones.Even when we have something,we still have to ask what it is that we have.If all we have is a pile of wood,grass,and stubble,we are still poor.It is not enough for us to be a vessel;we still have to ask whether we are a wooden and earthen vessel or a gold and silver vessel.It is easy to be proud when we think that we have something.As long as we have something,we think that we are marvelous.Little do we know the kind of material that we have.This is poverty.
Poverty also means superficiality,childishness, and immaturity.A rich life is a mature life. We have to realize that there is a difference between growth and maturity.A child grows year by year, but after he becomes an adult,the important matter is no longer growth; rather,it is maturity. If one has only a period of growth,his life is not yet rich enough.There must be a period of maturity before there can be riches.Those who take the initial period as the whole period are those who think that they have something;they are Laodiceans, and they are poor ones. Therefore,initial experiences always spoil us from having further experiences,shallow experiences hinder us from having deep experiences, and shallow knowledge hinders us from acquiring deep knowledge.