Proverbs 25:6 Put not forth thyself in the presence of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: 7 For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince whom thine eyes have seen.
Up is better than down, forward is better than backward, progress is better than regress.
The second law of thermodynamics, increasing entropy, states that everything tends toward decay. The rubber on your tires never increases as you drive. Lincoln's head will never go deeper into the tread after a cross country trip. Unfortunately, this regression can sometimes apply to our careers, relationships and even our "get up and go." Be honest, has your get up and go got up and went?
My encouragement is that we set realistic goals in life, pace ourselves, stay the course and keep moving forward. One step forward and two steps backwards will never win the race.
In our day of instant gratification, young people are conditioned to think they should have it all right off the bat. They don't realize that those who went before them started at the bottom and worked their way up. Nice cars and homes were only a dream at the beginning. They had to work hard for what they have and it took years, even decades to achieve "success." But the younger set wants it all right now. That's not the way it works.
It is better to advance in life, peak at the right time and then bask in the rewards of accomplishment.
Let's relate that to spiritual things. We dare not be spiritual flash in the pans. How many newbies in the faith start out with a bang but finish with a whisper? Paul tells us to run the race with patience. It is a marathon, not a dash. Our goal is to continue to grow in grace as days, months and years pass. Regression in the spiritual life is called backsliding - an Old Testament word and a New Testament practice! Not a good thing.
Folks, the best call is the call to come up, the call to move forward.
And one glad day we will hear the blessed call "come up hither" from our Lord and off to glory we will go into the presence of the Prince Whom our eyes will see!
Luke 14:8 When thou art bidden of any man to a wedding, sit not down in the highest room; lest a more honourable man than thou be bidden of him; 9 And he that bade thee and him come and say to thee, Give this man place; and thou begin with shame to take the lowest room. 10 But when thou art bidden, go and sit down in the lowest room; that when he that bade thee cometh, he may say unto thee, Friend, go up higher: then shalt thou have worship in the presence of them that sit at meat with thee. 11 For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
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