You shall make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet, ‘Holy to the LORD.’ Exodus 28:36, ESV

 

Synonymous with luxury, excellence, purity and worth, and with a lustre that never fades, gold is a highly prized precious metal which never loses its appeal. It’s striking to look at, long-lasting as it never rusts, and is often favoured for expressing deep sentiment and worth; but the love of it can enslave and destroy. In all his trials and suffering, Job recognised its worth as he realised that he, like gold, was being refined and by faith in God could say: “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.” (Job 34:10)

 

It was “a plate of pure gold” that God ordered to be designed for display on Aaron’s head-dress, as high priest, the representative of the people, and mediator between them and him. On it, inscribed as on a signet ring, God ordered as the focal point, ‘Holy to the LORD’, to make the people aware of Aaron’s holy office, and of their own special place in God’s heart, as he represented them to make the sacrifice for their sins to be forgiven. God was fostering a relationship of love and faithfulness in gold.

 

Priestly garments were designed to be sacred and dignified to engender an understanding of God’s holiness in the people, and the importance of honouring him in their worship; these garments also emphasised the holiness of the priestly office through each significant, representative piece of clothing. In choosing gold, God was creating something splendid, intended to inspire the purity and beauty that he wanted to see in his people; conveying in words that their full devotion was what he had in mind.

 

Currently, there are many talented people who have dedicated themselves fully to stringent training, sacrificing personal comfort and desires, to compete in the Olympics, in the hope of winning gold medals which will bring them great honour if they win; but this will be relatively few – despite their effort. Yet, those who run the race of life through Christ, wholly devoted to him – ‘Holy to the LORD’ – are also running for gold; but they will win an eternal crown because, “when the Chief Shepherd appears, [they] will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.” (1 Peter 5:4, NIV)

 

They are the ones whose “soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Psalm 42:2) who “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matthew 5:6) who one day “will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Revelation 22:4, NIV)

 

This month, as each day we’ve explored being ‘Absolutely Alive’, we’ve consciously opened our hearts and minds to the beat of God’s heart, and to the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit; we’ve contemplated the richness and joy of life lived in Him and remembered that “He has made everything beautiful in its time” and “has also set eternity in the human heart …” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, NIV)

 

Are we going for gold?

 

Prayer: Glorious Father, you “sent [your] one and only Son into the world that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9, NIV) “for it is [you] who work in [us], both to will and to work for [your] good pleasure … so that [we] may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and twisted generation, in which [we] shine as lights in the world.” (Philippians 2:13,15) Thank you for your unfailing love which gives our lives true value and true beauty through Jesus our Lord. Amen