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.
.............................................................................................................
© 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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