Dare 2B Daring – November 19, 2013 A daily devotional published by Risk Takers for Christ, Inc. (Permission granted to reprint with proper attribution.) “The world says: You have needs -- satisfy them. You have as much right as the rich and the mighty. Dont hesitate to satisfy your needs; indeed, expand your needs and demand more. This is the worldly doctrine of today. And they believe that this is freedom. The result for the rich is isolation and suicide, for the poor, envy and murder.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov I had the privilege of meeting a very accomplished gentleman the other day at a local hospital. A friend of mine from church had asked me to pay him a visit and so, I swung by the medical center on my way home from a viewing for another very accomplished man. My friend thought that this man and I would hit it off because we are both sports fans – and she was right! I enjoyed hearing about his high school pitching feats and how they had attracted the attention of the New York Giants in the late 1940’s. However, instead of agreeing to a minor league contract with a large signing bonus, this gentleman had accepted an appointment to West Point. Upon graduation, he served with valor in Korea before leaving the military to begin a wildly successful business career. Armed with a PhD in civil engineering, he worked his way up the corporate ladder in several different companies. One was based in England, one in Germany and a third one in Saudi Arabia. Eventually, he returned to the United States because – had he remained in London – he would have had to pay 86% of his income in taxes. Back in the U.S., he turned down a generous offer to oversee his firm’s western operations in order to start his own business. Once again, he met with almost uncanny success, as he did with several other business endeavors. Approaching retirement age, this gentleman sold all of his companies except one, which he gave to his son to oversee while he had an 84-foot luxury yacht built to his exact specifications. Life – which had been extremely good so far – seemed like it couldn’t get any better. But then his health began to fail and now, in his mid 80’s, he occasionally experiences memory lapses as well. During our visit, he uttered a mild epithet with each frustrating pause. Before leaving his room, I prayed with my new-found friend and gave him the current issue of Our Daily Bread. I also handed him my business card and told him to call me at any time, day or night, if he has a spiritual need. My friend has lived an amazing life, but if he doesn’t know Christ as Savior, it has all been for naught. As Sir Francis Bacon was quoted as saying, “Money is a great servant, but a bad master.” “Give me neither poverty nor riches – feed me with the food allotted to me; lest I be full and deny You , and say ‘Who is the Lord?’ or lest I be poor and steal, and profane the name of my God.” Prov. 30:8-9 (NKJV) - Rev. Dale M. Glading, President risktakersforchrist.org
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 03:07:46 +0000
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