WORD 2day - Monday, Third week in the Eastertide
April 15, 2024 - Acts 6: 8-15; John 6: 22-29
The Word this week shall speak to us about the characteristics of the people of the Light of the Risen Lord, that is the tenstimonies of the Risen Lord who are filled with the light of faith. The first characteristic that the Word today points us to is: Wisdom. Stephen, the first known martyr for the Gospel, is presented to us as a person filled with wisdom: they found they could not get better of him because of his wisdom, and because it was the Spirit that prompted what he said.
Our minds now turn to this great gift of Wisdom: how do we understand that? The easiest way to comprehend wisdom would be through another great gift that is closely related to it: knowledge. How do we differentiate these two: knowledge and wisdom? Knowledge is possessing the required data... knowing, being informed and having the necessary data is an important aspect of faith. But more crucial is the gift of wisdom, which is the capacity to use the data in the right manner, the capability to draw the right inspiration from the information that I possess, the competence to convert the data that I have to right principles for life. Wisdom is manifested in the right choices that one makes.
This is what Jesus exhorts from those who followed him allover. Do not work for food that cannot last, work for food that endures to eternal life - he said. Knowing what is eternal and making a choice for it, makes me relativise everything else in life. Food and necessities, identity and achievements, status and positions... they are all good motives that can take one's life forward, but not sufficient to take one upto salvation. It is wisdom to know what truly matters, and choose the Lord above all.
