Last week we talked about the begging priest. We learned that the priest (forgive me..this is no indictment of priests or people of God)… gained a sense of entitlement when Chris and Jennifer helped him again after he had been robbed by a thief of his lifetime-gift of 100 gold coins. He expected to be given more and didn’t appreciate the gift granted to him. The priest had pity on the struggling fish and thought to save the fish. He made a bad decision and was dissatisfied with receiving one coin. The diamond which had been thrown into the river was recovered when the fish vomited it up! He saved the fish and retrieved the diamond. The priest was also careless. Why would he place a diamond in a pot of water?? The priest was thinking the one coin Chris gave him, he can’t even buy a lunch for one person. Why would he give so little? (see, it’s like I just told you, priest thinks people are just to give him stuff and gets a sense of entitlement). Priest saw a fisherman getting a struggling fish out of his net. The priest felt pity at the fish and thought that this one coin won’t solve my problem, why not I save that fish. (It’s about time we started thinking about being kind to someone or something) The priest paid the fisherman and took the fish. He put the fish in his small pot of water which he always carried with him.
The fish was struggling in the small pot of water, ended up throwing out a diamond from the mouth! The priest screamed with joy, “I got it, I got it”. At that point, the thief who had robbed the priest of his bag of 100 gold coins, was passing through. He thought the priest recognized him and may get him slapped into jail. Thief got nervous…ran to the priest, begging for mercy, apologized to the priest and returned his bag full of 100 gold coins. The priest couldn’t believe it. Chris saw all this and said, “Oh Lord, Now I understand your play”..”When you have enough to help others, don’t miss the opportunity. Plant a seed for growth and it will come back to you multiplied, perhaps 30-60-100 fold. The priest was not a good money manager, nor was he thrifty…didn’t know how to invest and save his assets. He was not a good steward over what had been given to him and didn’t handle his money well. Possibly, he had begun to think, “easy come, easy go.” I wondered what happened to the priest for him to become a beggar before being given the 100 coins for a lifetime living benefit? But, considering the priest, don’t you hate that religion and Christianity sometimes makes us look or think of poverty. The priest reminds me of Jonah. You remember Jonah didn’t want to witness to the people and would rather have died and disobey God rather than witness to the Ninevites! God doesn’t want us to be poor. He is the God of blessings. Blessings are tied up in obedience. Obedience to HIM brings inherent blessings!
Thanks for reading!!
Ask Dr. Jeanette Parkertm Ask Dr. Jeanettetm www.AskDrJeanetteParker.com; Articles copyright © “Inquiring Minds Want To Know” Jeanette Parker Founder-Superintendent:Today’s Fresh Start Charter School www.todaysfreshstart.org email: [email protected] [email protected] Next week I have a really exciting subject to write to you.
