Sabbath Reflection - The Glory of a King

Fame and recognition are perhaps the most sought-after things in this country.  This can be achieved in a variety of ways, including being the best at a particular sport, being elected to a political office, achieving status in business, or becoming "viral" or having millions of followers on Tic-Tok or YouTube.

At the heart of this type of desire is vanity.  The individual seeks this validation from others to acknowledge that they deserve attention.  All of this is just one more example of how we are not to be like the world (Revelation 18:4).  But is having any kind of glory wrong?  Not if it is based on living in, and by, God's standard.  Then any glory we receive comes from Him.

In Proverbs 20:29 we read: "The glory of young men is their strength, And the splendor of old men is their gray head," (NKJV).  The Hebrew there for "glory" can mean beauty, but it can also mean honor.  Typically, a young person does not have enough life experience to have true wisdom. Youth does, however, have strength - especially physically.  That strength can be used to serve others. 

The gray hair of old men (and women) should be a sign of a wisdom gained from a long life.  They have ideally learned how to make good decisions.  Mark Twain said, "Good decisions come from experience. Experience comes from making bad decisions."  Seniors have learned what are true priorities, what is important and what to let go, and that not every problem is a problem.  Wisdom too, should be used to serve others.

Likewise, in Proverbs 25:2 we read: "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter."   The glory we can take on over the course of our life, the wisdom we can grow into, comes from searching out the "matters" of God.  We need to keep our noses in the Bible so God can fill our minds with His instruction (2 Timothy 2:15).  We need to remain faithful in the calling we have been given so we don't grow weary (Galatians 6:9).  We need to serve others (Galatians 5:13) in love so we are not focused on ourselves unduly and so that we become the Family God is calling us to become.

Use this Sabbath day to search out the deep things of God (Job 11:7), to search out the glory God has concealed in His Word, and to become filled with His wisdom.

I wish you a profitable and value filled Sabbath,

Joe Greene 

Pastor for Richmond and Roanoke, VA