Daily Encouragement: Day 252

From Handbook to Wisdom, Day 252

TREASURING WHAT GOD CALLS IMPORTANT

I do not want to justify myself in the eyes of men;
God knows our hearts,
and what is highly esteemed among men
is detestable in the sight of God.
(Luke 16:15)

I do not want to love praise from men
more than praise from God.
(John 12:43)

W.E. Sangster tells the story of a frightened woman on the Titanic who found her place in a lifeboat that was about to be dropped into the raging North Atlantic. She thought suddenly of something she needed in light of death that was breathing down her neck. She asked for permission to go to her stateroom. She was granted just a moment or so, or they would have to leave without her.

She ran across a deck that was already slanted at a dangerous angle. She ran through the gambling room that had money piled in one corner ankle deep. She came to her stateroom and pushed aside her jewelry, reached above her bed and grabbed three small oranges, and found her way back to the lifeboat and got in.

Death had boarded the Titanic. One blast of its awful breath had transformed all values. Instantaneously, priceless things had become worthless. Worthless things had become priceless. And in that moment she preferred three small oranges to a crate of diamonds.

Our Lord taught that the things that are highly prized among people are detestable in the sight of God (Luke 16:15). Let us pray for the wisdom of a loose grip on the things that are destined to perish while we diligently lay hold of that which will endure.