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Rich
Man - Poor Man
One
day the father of a very wealthy family took his son
on a trip to
the country with the firm purpose of showing his son
how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and
nights on the farm of what would be considered a very
poor family. On their return from their trip, the
father asked his son, "How was the trip?"
"It
was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the
father asked.
"Oh yes," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the
trip?" asked the father.
The
son answered: "Well, I saw that we have one dog
and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the
middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no
end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they
have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the
front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a
small piece of land to live on and they have fields
that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve
us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have
walls around our property to protect us, they are
surrounded by friends."
The
boy's father was speechless!
Then his son added, "Thanks dad for showing me
just how poor we really are."
Wealth!
It is all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?
Try
THIS perspective: you may be very POOR materially,
but if you have Christ,
you are RICH indeed!
The Apostle Paul wrote these encouraging words
to Christians: "Therefore let no one boast in
men. For ALL
things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or
Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things
present or things to come; ALL
are yours. And you are Christ's, and Christ is
God's" (1 Corinthians 3:21-23).
If one belongs to Christ, ALL
things belong to him!
"When
God "adopts" you into His
family, you become His child!
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our
spirit that we ARE children of God, and IF CHILDREN
- THEN HEIRS; heirs of God and "joint
heirs" with Christ, if indeed we suffer
with Him, that we may also be glorified together"
(Romans 8:16-17).
Christ
adopts us into His family when we: place our trust
in Him (Hebrews 11:6), repent
of our sins (2 Corinthians 7:9-10), confess
Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10) and are baptized
(immersed) into Christ for
the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38).
As long as we remain faithful as His
children: we will continue to enjoy the spiritual
riches that are found in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
Hear
the words of Jesus; "Do NOT lay up for
yourselves TREASURES ON EARTH, where moth and
rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but
lay up for yourselves TREASURES IN HEAVEN,
where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also" (Matthew 6:19-21).
Jesus
is the source of TRUE and LASTING riches!
Now
from YOUR perspective, how "RICH" are
you? God
longs to adopt you into His family so that He can
bless you with TRUE, spiritual riches.
How will YOU
respond to His love and generosity?
God
bless you!
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church of Christ at Creekwood
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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