WHY GOD WANTS GOLD
Over centuries of increasing sophistication and technology, gold has assumed many additional roles. Not only is it still prized as an essential component of jewellery, it also has many applications in contemporary modern day life.
For example, gold has soared into space with the astronauts where its reflective ability has been used on the heat shields that are critical to life beyond the earth's atmosphere. This same reflective ability increases the aesthetic and practical beauty of modern skyscrapers as the gold in tinted windows makes the difference between obstructive glare and glamorous gleam.
It has many other specific applications, including uses in telephones and telecommunications, television sets, computers and calculators. It also has important applications in medicine and dentistry.
But above all, gold is most renowned in its ultimate form - jewellery. Every day men, women and children continue the centuries-old ritual of gold adornment. They are caught up in gold's allure through the acquisition and purchase of any number of pieces of gold jewellery, whether it be a ring, chain, necklace, earrings, bracelet or watch.
Of all the world's precious metals, only gold combines the four basic characteristics that make it a universally and eternally treasured possession - lustrous beauty, rarity, durability and workability.
1. Lustrous beauty
The naturally intense colour and distinctive lustre of gold combine to give this precious metal its unique and lasting beauty. This beauty is further enhanced by the soft and exquisite shades of colour achieved by combining it with small amounts of other precious and base metals known as alloy. The many colours of gold include yellow, white, pink and green and, to a lesser extent, shades of blue and purple. All are beautiful in their own right, and in combination.
gold & copper - soft rose colour
gold & silver - green gold
gold & palladium - white gold
God wants the beauty of gold in our lives. We are to give out a distinctive "shine" to those who are not Christians. God combines the gold in our lives with other elements to produce distinctive in each Christian. We will never be 100% gold in this life. As it is pure gold is too soft for everyday use. God uses the gold combined with some "base" metals to his glory.
2. Rarity or Purity
Although gold is everywhere around us - in the earth's crust, in the seas, rivers and plants - the difficulty and expense of obtaining it makes recovery of any substantial amounts unlikely. Where gold is found to exist, as it does in several regions of Australia, several tonnes of ore may be required to extract just one ounce of gold. This rarity alone is enough to bestow a certain symbolism and status to gold, and when combined with its other inherent characteristics, it becomes an even more desirable possession.
In a world when virtually anything is alright if you want to do it, the Christian is in the minority, a rarity. The Christian is to be in the world but not of the world. There is to be purity in the life of the Christian. This comes when we allow God to produce gold in our lives. This gold is produced when we suffer trials and tribulations. When we are crushed in our lives then God can extract gold. Too many Christian today seem to think that if they suffer they must be something wrong. If God is to produce gold in your life then you will suffer but you will also mature as a Christian.
3. Durability
Gold virtually lasts forever. It does not rust, tarnish or corrode. An example of its incredible durability is evidenced in the gold coins found in galleons sunk centuries ago. Each coin is as bright and shiny as the day it was made. Another familiar example that has overwhelmed millions of people are the treasures of King Tut. When the boy King Tutankhamen died in 1350BC he was buried with vast amounts of gold artifacts and jewellery. Today, more than 3000 years later, people marvel at the breathtaking array of items as gleaming and lustrous as when they were buried.
God wants gold in our lives because it is durable. Many christians want to settle for lesser metals or even wood, hay and stubble. Why? To produce gold requires more work, more suffering and pain.
4. Workability
Gold has the best working qualities of any metal, thereby making it the ideal precious metal for fine jewellery. It is so soft and malleable that one ounce can be stretched into a wire an incredible 80 kilometres long, or hammered into a sheet so thin that it covers well over nine square metres and becomes transparent. It is this workability that enables it to be alloyed with other precious and base metals to produce special qualities or to achieve variations of colour. Gold can be remelted and used again and again and it can be made into a vast array of jewellery items. From the most intricate baby bracelet to the heaviest chain, gold's workability gives it the ability to exist in a multitude of forms and shapes.
God wants gold in our live because it makes us more workable in his hands. The christian who produces gold in their life is like clay in the potters hand except God can make it into something even more valuable. it is gold's beauty, rarity, durability and wokability that makes it so valuable. Remember it is a "spiritual" gold that God is after which has an eternal worth.