May 7 | Application (‘When the Gold Loses Its Luster’)

By David Faust  

Do you own any gold? Throughout history, investors have relied on gold to hold its value when other forms of currency fail. In recent years the price of gold has averaged about $1,800 per ounce.  

The only gold I own is my wedding ring. And after nearly 48 years of wear and tear, my ring is thinner than it used to be.  

Gold Isn’t God 

Gold adorned Solomon’s temple, and heaven’s streets are paved with it. However, gold isn’t God. The Lord’s commands “are more precious than gold” (Psalm 19:10). We were not redeemed with “perishable things such as silver and gold . . . but with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18-19). It’s surprising when precious metals like silver and gold serve as examples of “perishable things,” but the blood of Christ is far more precious. Gold can lose its luster. 

That’s what happened when the Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and took the Jewish people into captivity. Contrasting Judah’s former brightness with the dark days the Jews were now experiencing, the prophet Jeremiah lamented, “How the gold has lost its luster, the fine gold become dull! The sacred gems are scattered at every street corner” (Lamentations 4:1). The temple’s ornamentation used to glisten in the sunlight, but now it was tarnished and blackened by smoke. The younger generation—one of the nation’s most valuable assets—lay dead in the streets, scattered around like broken pieces of pottery. “How the precious children of Zion, once worth their weight in gold, are now considered as pots of clay, the work of a potter’s hands!” (v. 2). 

The world is full of fool’s gold—flashy things that eventually lose their luster. The thrill of buying a new house or car fades with time. The dream of an exciting career morphs into the unglamorous reality of making a living. The vision and vigor of youth give way to old age. Money can’t buy peace of mind. Life has its laughs, but also its limitations—and lamentations.  

The Surprising Value of Invisible Things Above  

Crowded areas like New York City have little unoccupied land to build upon, so property owners have learned to recognize the value of the empty air space above their buildings. Sometimes this so-called “vertical real estate space” is more valuable than the ground beneath it. Businesses, stores, and even churches sell the air space above their property, allowing skyscrapers to be built above them. 

“There’s a price on everything in New York, and the air is no exception,” a zoning expert told the New York Times in 2013. “From the viewpoint of real estate, air is simply invisible land, because you can build on it. Sometimes the air above, behind, to the left or right is worth far more than the building that carries the rights to it; it’s a potential pot of gold for many properties.” 

This “invisible land” illustrates a spiritual truth. There are great blessings to be received and value to be gained if we look up by faith and fix our eyes on things above. In his own season of lamentation when everything around him was falling apart, Job’s faith made him look toward heaven and declare that when God “has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).  

Lay up treasures in heaven, and you might discover that you own a lot of gold after all. 

Personal Challenge: Think of a time when a job, a person, or a possession disappointed you. In prayer, lay your disappointment before the Lord. Ask the heavenly Father to use this disappointment to teach you and refine your character so you will become more like Christ.