Monday, February 27, 2012

SEA AS SHIELD

                          A wise king built a beautiful palace. He had amassed a lot of wealth for his country. He preserved this wealth as solid gold in a well-guarded treasure house within the palace. He built several safety devices and secret passages within the palace. The details of these arrangements were kept in secret.
                          There was a secret passage from the palace to the nearest forest for the escape of the royal family and major officers in case of an emergency. The treasure house had a secret door which was known only to the king and his faithful treasurer. The treasure house had a majestic false door which was never opened but was always guarded by armed guards.
                          The country was invaded by a mighty emperor with a heavily armed army. They reached the palace and planned to plunder it. The king, with his family and officers secretly escaped to the forest through a secret passage from the palace. The victorious enemies led by the emperor and his commander-in-chief reached the closed door of the treasure house. They used all their might and skill to break and open the door. Finally the door was broken and suddenly there was a torrential gush of sea-water from the room which filled the area killing the mighty army  of the enemy and all its leaders.
                          Unknown to others, the king had made a secret tunnel from the treasure house that led directly to the sea. The room was much below sea  level and so sea water could gush in as soon as the door was opened by force. That was an ingenious arrangement made by the intelligent king to protect the treasure of the country.
                         Later, when the enemies had perished, the king returned to his palace. With the assistance of his skilled engineers, he could seal the connection to the sea. The water was emptied to restore the treasure in an intact form. The people of the country praised the wisdom of their king.
                         A pious queen of Sweden was a champion of charity. She sold her jewels and used that money to build hospitals and orphanages for the poor people of her country. One day she was visiting the inmates of a convalescent home she had built for the poor patients recovering from illness. She met a bedridden woman and talked to her, enquiring about her health. The woman shed tears of gratitude. Her tears fell on the hands of the queen, who was supporting her. The queen later remarked to her aide about those teardrops, "God is sending back my jewels to me!"
                         We take every effort to preserve our treasure on earth. We waste a major share of our time, health and energy to amass fame, wealth and glory. Jesus advised us, “Provide for yourselves purses that don’t wear out, and save your riches in heaven, where they will never decrease, because no thief can get to them and no moth can destroy them {Luke 12:33}. “No one can be a slave of two masters; he will hate one and love the other; he will be loyal to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money” {Matthew 6: 24, Luke 16:13}.                                       
                                Money may fetch us amusement, but not happiness; a bed, but not sleep; books, but not brains; a car, but not safety; companions, but not friends; education, but not wisdom; flattery, but not respect; food, but not appetite; a house but not a home; luxuries, but not culture; medicines, but not health; ornaments, but not beauty; a violin, but not music. Money is like sea water; the more we drink, the thirstier we get.
                        “Do not store up riches for yourselves here on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and robbers break in and steal. Instead, store up riches for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and robbers cannot break in and steal. {Matthew 6: 19, 20} Lord Jesus taught us the correct attitude to wealth during his meeting with the rich, young man who was reluctant to sacrifice his wealth to follow Jesus. We find it in Matthew19: 16-30, Mark 10: 17-31 and Luke-18: 18-30. Let us save our riches in heaven.


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© By: Dr. Babu Philip, Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu, Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John, Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507, Kerala, India.
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