“And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” Phil 4:19 (THE AMPLIFIED BIBLE)
There once lived a very rich man who was so rich that everything he had could only be counted in the multiples. He possessed numerous houses, lands, slaves, livestock of different kinds, et cetera. In one word, he was LOADED. This rich man had a son whom he loved and a slave, whom he loved as well and treated like a son. So there was rivalry between the son and the slave for his affection. The rich man soon grew old and realised that he had to put his affairs in order before he died. So he wrote his will and stipulated that its content should only be disclosed after his demise.
After the man’s death, the will’s executor convened a meeting to read the will and divide the estate among the beneficiaries. As expected they invited the deceased’s heir as well as his beloved slave to the meeting. However, the event that happened next would have beaten Hollywood’s script writers hands down and could not have been imagined beforehand by anyone of the people present. In his last will and testament, the man had stipulated that his son was entitled to pick just one thing of his property and that the rest should revert to his beloved slave. This means that if the son chose for example the large tracts of land, the ownership of every other property his father owned, i.e. the slaves, houses, livestock et cetera, would automatically revert to the slave. The son had three days in which to make up his mind and make his choice.
On hearing this devastating news, the son became dejected because he had expected the meeting to be a forum for formalising his expectation that he would automatically inherit a sizeable portion, if not all that his father had owned. That niggling doubt that he had always entertained about the sincerity of his father’s love has now been proven right by this last act. His father has now confirmed to him and the world his worst fear that he loved his slave more than he loved his own son.
After trying to make what he thought was the best choice for the better part of two days and failing, the increasingly exasperated son decided to seek the wise counsel of the town’s elders. He went to them, explained his dilemma and asked for advice on what to do. After consulting among themselves, the elders told him what in their view was the best solution to his problem and asked him to carefully consider it and make this choice. On the appointed day, right on cue the son stood up, thanked everyone present and then announced that he had made up his mind and was ready to make his choice. He then took measured steps towards the slave, deliberately placed his hand on the latter’s shoulder and said in a loud voice – ‘I CHOOSE YOU’.
The son finally realised that his father actually never stopped loving him, even though he had often wondered if the latter’s love for him was not surpassed by his love for his slave. So, in this ingenious way the wise father finally convinced his son that he indeed loved him and that there was no need for the rivalry that existed between him and the slave. The son would always be the master and the sole inheritor of his vast wealth. The moral of this story is that if you have God, you already have everything. So, stop chasing shadows when God is all you need.
Prayer:
Lord, your word assures me that you love me too much to withhold your blessings from me. I now receive all you have for me by faith and praise you for it. Amen