Bronze or Gold

"When Shishak king of Egypt attacked Jerusalem, he carried off the treasures of the temple of the Lord and the treasures of the royal palace. He took everything, including the gold shields Solomon had made. So King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned these to the commanders of the guard on duty at the entrance to the royal palace."- 2 Chronicles 12:9-10

God allowed Shishak, the king of Egypt, to attack His holy city of Jerusalem and to plunder its wealth. And this was no small treasure. The city of Jerusalem abounded with prosperity because of the great blessing that God had poured out on Rehoboam's father, king Solomon. Now, all of that has been lost. And why?

When we read the verses preceding this section and those following, we learn that the people had deserted God and were pursuing the religious practices of the nations around them. Their hearts were not devoted to the Lord. The result of this was that God allowed them to have what they were asking for, a life free of His interference. What they got was bronze, instead of gold.

It had to sting every time they looked at those bronze shields and remembered that they used to have gold ones.

I wonder how many of us find ourselves in the same place- living with bronze, when we could have had gold. Now, before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I' talking about material wealth here: I'm not. I'm talking about God's blessing, God's best for our lives. When we continually choose our way over God's ways, we are unknowingly ripping ourselves off. It is only as we pursue Him wholeheartedly that we will walk in the blessing of His divine covering.

Spiritual bronze or spiritual gold? It's up to you. I say, go for the gold.