Lesson from the clock:- A timely advice for the young and old.
Gregory the grandfather clock had been ticking away for the past hundred and fifty years in the courtyard of the king.
For the first fifty years of its lifespan, Gregory was the talk of the town. It was made of oakwood. Gregory stood tall and looked majestic. The numbers and hands on its face were made of pure gold and they shone brightly when the sun came up. There were many other clocks in the same courtyard but Gregory received the most praise. Yet, that did not deter Gregory from doing its duty. It did not pause to gloat over the praises it received.
As the years went by, the other clocks were replaced by modern digital clocks. Gregory still stood in the same royal courtyard but was not given a second glance. The new digital clocks were the talk of the town now. Gregory even heard people saying that it was not cool looking, that it was old fashioned and was not as accurate as the digital clocks. This too did not bother Gregory. It did not worry about what it heard or about the false accusation but continued to work steadily just as before. Gregory knew what it was. It was a clock. It knew whom it belonged to. It belonged to the king. It knew what it was created to do. It was created and assembled to show accurate time to those at the king's courtyard. Gregory just focused on what it had to do, and did it well.
One day, everyone stopped to look at Gregory. The old grandfather clock had stopped ticking. All who had spoken ill of Gregory recently, began to talk about it again. This time, they said, "Gregory, surely was a faithful old clock. It worked till it stopped."
Like Gregory, all of us exist, all of us will grow old and one day we will all die.
Gregory did not simply exist. It existed with a purpose, to provide time for the royalty. Gregory the grandfather clock knew its purpose and identity. Do we know ours? Are we just existing or living out God's will in our lives?
When we are praised and when people look up to us, we feel proud and happy. It really makes our day. We even yearn for more adulation.
At times, we get frustrated and angry when we slog while those around us are having it easy.
We get infuriated when we are falsely accused or when we hear the fraudulent gossips about us. We lose sleep over it and seek vindication.
A student studies day and night but others get more marks. He does a project all by himself with integrity, but his classmate gets someone else to do his project and is praised and even rewarded by the teacher. The hardworking student gets discouraged and feels unrewarded for his sincere efforts. He wonders why he has to study and do things honestly.
Person A, works till he is exhausted and he is neither promoted nor gets any benefits but his colleague who usually procrastinates gets promoted and gets more benefits than he deserves. Person A's blood starts boiling and he wants to quit.
A young girl exercises regularly, goes on healthy diets but is not able to reach her desired weight. Her best friend does not exercise and just gorges herself with any food she likes and she is the center of attraction in her college because of her ideal weight. This young girl gets heartbroken and depressed.
A homemaker mother works at home cooking, washing and cleaning for everyone. As she grows older she gets tired and needs medical attention. She is not able to work as swiftly as before. She gets frustrated because she gets no appreciation or help from those at home.
Don't all the above scenarios seem familiar? Yes, they happen daily in the lives of many in one way or another. What is the solution? Is it to throw in the towel and say, "I give up!" Or would griping and grumbling and swearing make things better?
The only solution is to apply the lesson taught by Gregory the grandfather clock. Focus on who we are, whose we are and what we have to do.
Yes, we just have to do what we have to do, in the best way we can, without yearning for praises and without bothering or losing sleep over what others say or think about us. Our focus must be on our end goal and not on others.
Being jealous about others or getting angry about the unfairness going on around us or pining for the appreciation we never got will never help. Even gloating over the adulation received will only pave a downward spiral for us, instead of helping us focus.
As Christians what is our end goal? In Jn 4:34 Jesus said, "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work."
Unlike Gregory, we have someone whom we can imitate. That someone is Christ Jesus. Paul in his letters to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 4:16 & in 1 Cor 11:1 tells them to imitate him as he(Paul) imitates Christ.
Our goal must be to do the will of the Father Who created us in His image . What is the will of the Father? To make Jesus known, by being imitators of Him and to fulfill the command of Jesus in Matt 28:19-20.
The Pharisees ridiculed and spread hate rumors about Jesus and it didn't bother Him. The people in Jn 12:13 welcomed Jesus with palm leaves, cried Hosanna and proclaimed Him as King and it made no difference to Jesus. He did not bother or worry about what people spoke of Him or thought of Him. He knew Who He was, Whom He was serving and what He was called to do.
When we know that our identity is in Christ Jesus we will begin to realise that we are God's own precious children. We will know that we are a royal priesthood sent to proclaim the marvels of God. We will know that we have been redeemed from darkness and brought into God's marvelous light. Only then we will begin to shine God's light into this dark world.
What does God's Word say about us who are in Christ Jesus? Let's look at 1 Peter 2:9 NASB. "But you are a CHOSEN RACE, A royal priesthood, A holy NATION, a PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
Whether we are students, employees, employers or homemakers, let us do everything with integrity Now and diligence. Let us not procrastinate. Let God's unconditional love, kindness and gentleness be our disposition. Let us practice patience and self-control at all times. Let us forgive as soon as a quarrel begins. Let us be faithful in our imitation of Christ Jesus and in the discharge of our duties. Let Christ's joy and peace overflow from us and spread all around. Let God's goodness be so evident in us, that people who know us, who observe us and who hear us talk, would want to imitate us as we imitate Christ Jesus and want to know Him.
Then one day when we are called to be home with our Father in heaven, we will hear these words, "Welcome home, my good and faithful servant!"
Mary Augustine
01/03/18
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