RISE UP AND WALK!

 How many times have you heard the phrase “the rich and powerful”? These words always seem to go together. Like everything else though, God sees things the differently than we do. Being rich has no power with God. In Matthew 19:24, Jesus says it’s harder for a rich man to go to heaven, than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. The rich man may have money, but he has no power, at least not with God.

   There is a story of a Catholic monk named Thomas Aquinas, who when visiting the Pope was taken to the Vatican treasury. The Pope said, “Look at all the silver and gold we have Thomas! No longer can we say silver and gold have I none!” Thomas looked at the Pope and said “neither can we say rise up and walk.” How perceptive Thomas was. The Catholic church had grown rich and powerful in the eyes of men and kings. But it had no power to save or heal. It had sold out whatever moral and spiritual power it may have had, for riches or wealth, and earthly power.

 

   I think of all the pastors and missionaries, teaching a small flock, or feeding a growing one, who may ask "Is it worth it?" Well that depends on how you define "worth". Which is more valuable, the easy way of the world, or the "hard" way of Christ? Do you want wealth, whether monetary or otherwise, or do you want power that comes from God? You see, for me, having His power IS wealth. I am a rich man! My Father gives to me the power to proclaim the Good News, to help the spiritually lame to walk, the spiritually blind to see, the thirsty soul to drink the water of Life!

 

   When you find yourself feeling low and weary, not being "rich" according to the world, remember the power you have, that might be forfeited if you had the riches of men. In Christ, you have the power to show the world that God does indeed provide. You have the power to show them that joy doesn’t come from things. You have the power to show others how to RISE above their circumstances and WALK by faith. You still have the power to say “RISE UP AND WALK.” If you have this power, you are indeed rich, for faith is worth more than anything this world possesses. It is the power of God unto salvation. Now get out there, take the power He has given you, and command the lost and lame, to "RISE UP AND WALK".