The Inheritance of the Wise

UV 775/10,000 The Inheritance of the Wise The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools. Proverbs 3 v 35 Those who fear God, obey His Word and avoid evil in what they think, speak and do are described as wise. Their destiny is that they will eventually share in the glory of God. They will be co-inheritors with Christ of the glory of God-ultimate, absolute and eternal satisfaction. They know that it is better to fall to rise than to rise to fall. They humble themselves constantly before the presence of the Almighty. Therefore they believe and receive grace. They will also lead many to righteousness symbolised as the crowns that they will receive as their prize in eternity. They will shine with the brightness of the stars forever. In contrast, the icons of this age of every domain from sports to the building of financial and industrial empires, they rise to fall. The very word ‘icon’ has a hidden meaning in it- “ I con”. I con myself and con others into believing in my greatness or glory. They believe to deceive. Their clay feet or their vulnerabilities get exposed over time and they fall to their shame, never to rise again. Those who depend on their own wisdom, charisma, status, power, talent, wealth and connections all indulge in shameless self promotion. They will only shine like the shooting star or a meteor in the sky. They will shine for a short time and disappear into everlasting shame and darkness. This evanescent glory is described as the exaltation of fools. As someone remarked, “ why rise at all, if it is only to fall.” For some time, it was said that cricket was the new religion of the country and the stars of cricket were the new gods but after the recent scam in the IPL, people have begun to realize that it is not a mere game that cements an individual or a country. For some time I had been praying that the stone that no human hand had cut from the eternal rock strike the clay feet of all the human icons world-wide that they fall like the glorious statue in the book of Daniel. Scripture sets these two contrasting models for us: the first is the better or preferred model that we must learn to emulate and the second is the one we should desist from following. Whom we worship, we imitate. We worship Jesus the bright and Morning Star, the only star that continues to shine consistently in our lives during the days of our lives. He will show us which is the true North and guide us with His wise counsel every day and receive us into His glory at the end of our days. Prateep V Philip