Elohim April 2015 | Page 23

From Rags to Riches “Jesus laying down His life - enabled us to be clothed and lavished with the love of God and riches of heaven.” - Melanie Magarey - W e hear so many ‘success’ stories about people who have had nothing and now after some hard work and determination they have gone from rags to riches. Or there are those “get rich quick” schemes promising to take you from rags to riches in just a matter of days. What if I told you that you could go from rags to riches within an Instant? Or you actually already have full access to abundant riches? It almost sounds too good to be true. I’m not talking about riches as in money and possessions, I’m talking about true eternal riches that will never perish or fade (Matthew 6:19-20). I’m talking about salvation, eternal life with God - our exceedingly great reward. With the Easter season upon us, I think this is the most wonderful time to take a look at how truly rich we are. We are abundantly rich all because of Jesus, because of his selfless sacrifice on the cross. That one act changed humanity forever, if we choose to put our faith in Jesus. The Bible talks about our righteousness being like filthy rags in God’s eyes (Isaiah 64:6 ) but that one incredible sacrifice - Jesus laying down his life - enabled us to be clothed and lavished with the love of God and riches of heaven. Anyone who accepts Jesus as Lord is clothed with righteousness and blessed with eternal riches. It doesn’t matter about the physical clothes you wear, the car you drive or the size of your house and income, what truly matters at the end of the day is whether you’ve allowed God to remove your filthy rags to gain all the riches of heaven. ` Page 23