Live Rich and Die Rich, With Riches Stored Out of this World
The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.
The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."
The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise."
The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"
What can we learn from this beautiful story? When our life is all about acquiring material things so that that we believe that at the end of of our life we will be able to enjoy it, we have actually become fools deceived by the philosophy of the world. The educated world runs on the basis of the motto, "The person with the most toys wins." This is the reason the buisness man was telling this content fisherman to get in to the deathly and coveteous drive of acquiring more and more things of the world. Greed has a cousin named as 'the grave'. Both of it never ever chooses to say, 'it is enough and we are satisfied.' Both these personalities are hellish in their pursuit. The humans who get caught in snare of these two hellish personalities of greed and grave will only stop their journey of greed unto grave when they finally end up in hell fire.
Jesus spoke nearly the same lines in the following parable usually called 'The Parable of the Rich Fool' in the Bible. Here is what Jesus said, "15 ..., “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”" (Luke 12:15-20).
Dear people of God, we must understand that our life does not consist in the abundance of the things we posses. In other words, even though we have all the things of this world at our disposal, if God is not pleased with our life and does not give the power to enjoy life, then all the possessions at our disposal are as equal to as having nothing at all (Eccl 6:2-3). God has clearly said that a coveteousness man who is materialistic in his pursuit will never be satisfied with his wealth and will long for more and more of it (Eccl 5:10). Unless God satisfies a man's soul with His goodness, he will never be able to enjoy it. This is why the word of God agrees with the wisdom of the mexican fisherman and says, "12 ...there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God." (Eccl 3:12-13, NLT).
In short, if our goal in life is to please God and walk in His ways, whether we have much or little, God will empower us to have a heavenly contentment and enjoy this life fully. He will fill our God-thirsting soul with His goodness and will make it to be like a watered garden that never goes dry even during the drought (Psa 107:9; Isa 58:11). We can now choose to live rich in contentment and die empty, at the same time we should also choose to die with riches accumulated out of this world by spending our life doing God's will on earth. We do not have the sovereign rights to move our riches out of this world because we have brought nothing in to the world and will not take out anything away from this world (1 Tim 6:7).
Live in the present of God's gift. Living in the past will sap your life out of you, living in the future will blow your mind off with doubt and worries, but the best way to live life is to enjoy the abundant life that God gives through Jesus moment by moment as we depend on Him and live our life by faith. This is why godliness with contentment is a great gain, contentment without godliness is also a gain but with out the eternal dividends and benefits of a accumulated rich life everafter our earthly one (1 Tim 6:6). But make sure your richness in life is based on your attitude and passion to please God and live a blessed life under the shadow of his wings. It is better to be a poor man and live richly than to be a rich man and live poorly.
"A poor man with Jesus is the richest person in this world and a rich man without Jesus is the poorest person in this world" — Abraham Israel
•°o.O( www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com )O.o°•
No comments:
Post a Comment