I heard a true story of a seller at a market place somewhere in Ghana. And I want to challenge you with a deep lesson from it...
There used to be one madman who frequented her place and demanded for food. She showed him kindness, and gave him food. The madman never stopped going there: he knew he would always get food.
The seller, for an unknown reason, suddenly began to change. Sometimes she would murmur. At other times, she would rain painful insults on him before giving him something. But the madman never gave up. Even if for insults, he still went.
It continued for some time, then one day, after raining spiteful insults on him, the seller drove the madman away painfully. He sadly moved from there to another seller, and after she had had pity on him, the madman handed over to her a heavy old dirty bag. She opened it, and you can't imagine what she saw: gold, in abundance! He had brought it for the first seller; but because she drove him away, he had to give it to this one.
Hello dear, this is exactly what happens when we begin to think that we're wasting time doing good for others. We suffer in doing good, and when we nearly got rewarded, we give up. We are serving God faithfully; taking care of orphans; visiting widows and prisoners; helping some needy neighbours; or even sharing food with some friends. We should keep on doing it. For, the day we stop could be the day of our reward. And we could miss it painfully.
Had the first seller known...
ISAAC ESSOUN
(By the grace of God)
There used to be one madman who frequented her place and demanded for food. She showed him kindness, and gave him food. The madman never stopped going there: he knew he would always get food.
The seller, for an unknown reason, suddenly began to change. Sometimes she would murmur. At other times, she would rain painful insults on him before giving him something. But the madman never gave up. Even if for insults, he still went.
It continued for some time, then one day, after raining spiteful insults on him, the seller drove the madman away painfully. He sadly moved from there to another seller, and after she had had pity on him, the madman handed over to her a heavy old dirty bag. She opened it, and you can't imagine what she saw: gold, in abundance! He had brought it for the first seller; but because she drove him away, he had to give it to this one.
Hello dear, this is exactly what happens when we begin to think that we're wasting time doing good for others. We suffer in doing good, and when we nearly got rewarded, we give up. We are serving God faithfully; taking care of orphans; visiting widows and prisoners; helping some needy neighbours; or even sharing food with some friends. We should keep on doing it. For, the day we stop could be the day of our reward. And we could miss it painfully.
Had the first seller known...
ISAAC ESSOUN
(By the grace of God)
