The man who discovered it had lived all his days in abject poverty. He ‎hardly ever possessed more than enough to stay alive. Like most of his fellow ‎countrymen in Guinea, he lived under the burden of poverty.‎

Whether this man can escape the poverty that engulfs him waits to be seen. Neighbors ‎of the man marveled that he wasn’t robbed and murdered the first night he spent at home ‎after finding the stone. When government authorities got news of the incredible ‎diamond, they had the stone confiscated, and the man hidden away so he wouldn’t be ‎such an easy target for crooks.

They informed the media that the finder of the diamond ‎was entitled to keep a percentage of the worth of the stone. It was not disclosed how big ‎of a percentage the man could keep. However, since the diamond would be worth ‎millions, even a small percentage would doubtless seem like a fortune to someone who ‎was all their life accustomed to poverty. If he managed to get it and keep it, his life ‎would be a real rags-to-riches transformation.
Did you know that, to escape hell and enter into heaven, we must have a rags-to-riches transformation? Incredible as it sounds, it is true. Every one of us, whether we ‎are rich or poor in this world’s goods, must experience such a change on a spiritual level ‎in our lives.‎

Each person needs to realize that all their righteousness is as filthy rags and accept the ‎salvation that is so richly offered through the Lord Jesus Christ.‎

We are all as unclean things and all our righteousness is as filthy rags, is the ‎judgment God has passed on all mankind. In God’s sight, we are all sinners dressed in ‎filthy rags, unfit to ever enter his presence. All have sinned and come short of the glory ‎of God. Not a single one of us will ever make it into heaven in our natural state. God is ‎holy and must judge sin. One sin is enough to sink a sinner in hell for eternity. Don’t be ‎fooled by taking sin lightly. It is the weightiest matter known to man. Weighty enough ‎to sink multitudes into hell if they fail to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus.

To repent means to pass the same judgment on yourself that God has already passed on ‎you. In short, it means to realize that you are unfit for his presence and on the road to ‎hell. It is only when one realizes their lost and ruined condition that they will ever see ‎their need of the Savior who died on Calvary for them.‎