One day, a wealthy father took his son from the city out to the country to see how the poor people live. The father and the son spent several days and nights spending the night with what the father would have considered to be a very poor farming family.
After returning home, the father and the son gathered around one of the fireplaces in the multi-million dollar mansion. The father asked his son, “ What did you learn from our experience with this poor, unfortunate family?”
The son, looking around the room filled with thousands of dollars worth of art, furniture, and other fine things, said, “It was great, Dad.”
The father asked his son, “What did you learn about how the poor people around us live?”
“Well,” the son replied, “I saw that we have only one dog and they have four dogs, cows, cats, and horses. We have a pool that reaches out into the middle of our garden while they have a creek that stretches out into eternity. We have expensive imported lanterns in our garden while they have the bright moon and millions of stars to light the night. We have a small patio that reaches out into the front yard while they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to call ours while they have fields that go on beyond the eye’s reach. We have servants that serve us, but they serve others. We spend a lot of money on food that is full of extra stuff while they eat natural food grown in their own fields and picked with love. We have a tall privacy fence around our property to protect us from the world while they have a tall fence of friends to protect them.”
After the boy finished answering his father’s inquiry, the father was speechless. He had failed to show his son how blessed they actually are and that their life is better. To beat it all, the son added, “Thanks, Dad, for showing me just how poor we really are.”
Isn’t perspective great?! As Christians, we must be sure that our perspective is in the right focus. Examining the sermon that Jesus taught while on top of the mountain, we see that Jesus said several things about our perspective: “Blesses are the poor in spirit: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for their’s is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you” (Matthew 5:3-12).
The things that Jesus said here are very astounding to the rich of our world. Those who consider their material possessions before they consider the Creator of their material possessions read this and think that Jesus was a nut and a man in need of mental help. It seems to them that, as the father of the son thought, that to be rich, you must have material things. However, as the son of the father showed by humbling his father, material things get in the way of seeing the real things that matter.
I truly hope that we can set aside our bills that mount up, the repairs on our cars, and the sales in the store and look clearly at the things that really matter. I suggest that sometime, you leave the cordless phone in the house, take a chair into your backyard, and sit there looking up into the sky. Spend time in nature praying and thinking about the things that truly matter.
One day, after we have lived the life according to the Bible and followed all of its commands, we will be able to truly see what it means to have the riches found only in Heaven.
Are you living as a poor person, or are you blinded by your riches? Please, dear reader, understand the truth behind this story and strive to be more perfect according to the Scriptures.
- Kyle Moses; via The Mathis Messenger, the weekly bulletin of the Mathis church of Christ, Mathis, Texas. www.mathiscofc.org
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