Messages to the Churches - Revelation 2:1-3:22

Messages to the Churches - Revelation 2:1-3:22

I know your afflictions and your poverty—yet you are rich!

Remember that Jesus knows all about poverty!  He was born in a manger, raised as a refugee in a foreign country, and spent most of his years in Nazareth, one of the poorest villages in the country.  

The case could be made that Jesus was raised as a manual laborer in a family that dealt with an oppressive tax burden. Perhaps there were even nights when the boy Jesus went to bed hungry. In any case, as an adult, Jesus wandered the countryside with his followers, often having "no place to lay his head." (Luke 9:58).

And yet, we are reminded that Jesus was truly rich.  As the very Son of God, we think he certainly could have turned stones into bread (Matthew 4:3)... or commanded the wealth of the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10).

Clearly, Jesus is uniquely positioned to remind us of our wealth - even in the midst of uncertain economic times. If we know Christ, then we are truly wealthy, in all the ways that really matter.  The Apostle Paul writes, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich." (2 Corinthians 8:9)

He owns the cattle on a thousand hills,
The wealth in every mine;
He owns the rivers and the rocks and rills,
The sun and stars that shine.
Wonderful riches, more than tongue can tell -
He is my Father so they're mine as well;
He owns the cattle on a thousand hills -
I know that He will care for me. 

                    - John W. Peterson