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#Post#: 9506--------------------------------------------------
The Grasping Man
By: Brad Date: November 5, 2014, 9:38 am
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The tale of the Grasping Man
There was a good father who had a son. The son, like most
young children, would grasp and tightly hold onto things,
often putting them in his mouth to taste. So the father was
careful to not let his son get his hands on something
that was bad for him. But one the occasions when the boy did
grasp something bad, the father would take it away,
pointing at it, and proclaiming "Bad! Bad!"
As the child grew into a young man, his desire for more
things grew as well. His father gave him many of the
things he desired, but not all. He also strongly advocated
kindness, charity, and a good work ethic to his son.
The child got in trouble a few times, but was rarely punished
much, as his dad was the school counsellor at his
school.
The young man grew into an adult, becoming an executive for
a leading company. He made a very good salary but
he worked hard for it, often working long hours, and cutting
corners to show up his co-workers and competitors.
Many women were interested in him, but he only allowed other top
executive ladies into his life, and eventually he
did marry. His wife soon retired after being married awhile,
to stay home and take care of the children they had
planned for and already had a child soon to be born. The man
had accumulated many things in his life, but his
health soon gave away to a heart attack which left him too weak
to work. Shortly after that, he was diagnosed with
cancer and given less than a year to live.
As he lay on his death bed, his father, whom he had neglected
later in life, showed up to comfort him. "Dad, I'm
glad you are here. My wife doesnt spend the time here that I
need her to, to ensure that my son is taken care of
with the portfolio I built up. She keeps making excuses about
my kid taking up her time, and MY time is running
out." His father asked how good his portfolio was, and the son
went on to say that he had one and a half million
stocked away in a combination of investments with an annual
payout of $50 thousand on a million of it, and the other
half a million in more risky investments designed to bring in
more working capital. The father responded that the
son's portfolio already sounded pretty good. The son responded,
"Thanks dad, but I need my laptop setup, and
someone to watch my investments, so that I can buy or sell as
needed on the riskier stuff. I really need a firm
hands on approach to my things."
His father had a sad look on his face as he said, "Son, I
love you so much. I know you've been busy with
your career, so I had stopped asking you to do something
together. But I have to say, this isnt the type of
father/son stuff I was hoping to do with you. You are the
smartest man I know about business and making more
money from what you have. But you have always had this problem
with things. You have a hard time letting go
of material things, and had difficulty cultivating good
relationships with people. If you want me to keep an
eye on your investments, I can do that at home. I just want to
talk and catch up on our lives for now."
The son sighed and reached to his laptop on the nightstand
close by, but he was too weak to pick it up.
But he woudnt take his grasping hand away from it.
"Son! ... son, please let it go. No matter how important
that is to you, its meaningless toward the
eternity you are about to enter into. I promise to do my best
to help you with your portfolio, but its time to
talk about your spiritual portfolio. You are about to retire
from the physical world and your spiritual
portfolio is empty. Its not too late son, ... Please... let go!
Sad story, but all too common in todays world. People dont want
to let go of less important things, and want
increase their material portfolio more than their spiritual one.
What in life is our Father in heaven telling
YOU to let something go? If he is telling you such, trust him
and let it go. Cast your cares on Him, for He
cares for you and will not let you fall.
#Post#: 9575--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Grasping Man
By: James Date: November 19, 2014, 12:55 pm
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We can sing with the best of them "All to Jesus I surrender" but
when it gets down to it we are not much better than this
grasping man.
Thanks Brad.
#Post#: 9577--------------------------------------------------
Re: The Grasping Man
By: Brad Date: November 19, 2014, 4:46 pm
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Glad you liked it James! Its the reason (IMO) that Jesus said
that we must become more righteous than the pharisees. They
(at least with the bulk of the public) seemed to do the right
thing but they coveted many things in life, money, prestige,
honor, etc. Although we are forgiven of our sins so as to make
us right with God, we are expected to show love and kindness to
our fellow human beings in both what we say and do. Mind you
sometimes, being critical to a brother/sister that you love, is
a kindness if you are motivated by the Holy Spirit and real love
to do so. But more love of our fellow man in word and deed is
a big part of what we should be doing because we are grateful
for the Love God shows us! Hope you are having a blessed day.
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