Soren Kierkegaard once told a parable about two thieves who broke into a jewelry store, but instead of stealing the jewels they simply switched the price tags. They put high-priced tags on cheap jewelry and low-priced tags on valuable gems. For several weeks no one noticed. People bought cheap jewelry for exorbitant prices and rare jewels for spare change. Kierkegaard's point is pretty obvious: sometimes we have difficulty discerning between what is valuable and what is worthless.
John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy." But here's how he steals. Very rarely is it overt. He uses covert means. He switches the price tags. He wants us to place supreme value on worthless things and no value on things that are invaluable.
A relationship with Jesus Christ is of infinite value. To settle for anything less is literally robbing from yourself.
John 10:10 says, "The thief comes to steal, kill and destroy." But here's how he steals. Very rarely is it overt. He uses covert means. He switches the price tags. He wants us to place supreme value on worthless things and no value on things that are invaluable.
A relationship with Jesus Christ is of infinite value. To settle for anything less is literally robbing from yourself.
4 Comments:
Strong words, Mark! Thanks...
So true - we try to find life so often from every other source, before we realize Christ IS Life.
Great word today! Great. That's a re-listen on the podcast.
The parable can apply nicely to how the bible repeatedly warns that we must guard ourselves and not be deceived by false Gospels. Well intentioned people are preaching messages that are not biblically sound. An example from scripture is the book of Galatians where the judiaizers taught grace plus circumcision. The false message is usually dangerously close to the real thing and many are misled. Satan's goal is to turn people's focus away from the offense of the cross and onto themselves or something else.
It is critical that christians guard themselves and test everything that is preached in the light of scripture. In a similar manner, it is also critical that preachers check themselves to ensure they are preaching the true word of God rather than a counterfeit false gospel.
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