Scott Souder
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Our Counselor’s Admonition
The weekly Sabbath is a special day we have each and every week. Once each year we have a weekly Sabbath followed by the Day of Pentecost, which is a special high day. The high day in which the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, was given to the followers of Jesus Christ. One of Jesus Christ’s names is Counselor. A counselor is a person trained to give guidance on personal, social or psychological problems, with the purpose of identifying goals and potential solutions to achieve them. And as we grow in our maturity as Christians, we’ll take all the counsel He will give us. And through the help of the Holy Spirit we are guided to understand the spiritual nature of the counsel He provides.
In John’s letter to the Church in Laodicea he records something Christ counseled them to do. Counseling that we should also listen to and follow. He explains to them they have come up short and therefore need to do three things to course correct their situation. We, too, can fall short, like our brethren in Laodicea, all the while thinking that we are doing ok and, in reality, we are falling short.
Laodicea was a city that was successful in banking, trade and commerce. They minted their own coins. And there were legends throughout the Greek empire of the wealth in this area once known as the Lydian empire. They also were known as a textile city where they produced a glossy black wool which was woven into tunics called trimata, that were prized through the Roman empire. And a third area that Laodicea was well known for was their school of medicine with a specialty of ophthalmology. Producing a powder known as Phrygian Powder which contained zinc and alum and was used as an eye salve.
These three areas Christ addresses as He counsels them to “buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.”
It would be wise for us to listen to His counsel. For He stands at the door and knocks.
