2 Corinthians 8:9—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.
Rather incredible isn’t it? The Lord of the universe willingly disrobed of the heavenly splendor that was His.
Ø He set aside His royal power to be mocked, slapped, spit on and spiked to a cross--put to death by the very people He came to save.
Ø He let go of omnipresence to walk in sandals across dirty roads to preach to hungry hearts.
Ø He turned off omniscience to take instruction from His Father in the sacred mission of becoming Savior to a lost planet.
Ø He left heaven to experience hunger, thirst, pain, fatigue, disappointment, anger, frustration and the incessant onslaught of temptation.
Ø He vacated His majestic throne to encounter the invidious attitudes and corpulent lifestyles of the religious, the immoral and the rebellious who had no clue to the depth of His love.
When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what good thing he should do to get eternal life Jesus said, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” (Matthew 19:21) When he turned away in sadness on account of his great wealth, he had no idea what splendor Jesus had set aside. No idea!
If the thought of setting aside riches to follow Jesus makes us defensive, the proof of our misplaced priorities is self-evident. Have we considered that the poverty Jesus embraced is the richness of our salvation? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mat.5:3)
Inspiration
