Anecdote:

The Cost of Fortune and Success

Dr. G. D. James

{Hope in Christ}

Wilfred was a bright and handsome young man who had a brilliant academic career. Soon after his graduation as an architect he was employed in a prestigious firm in Sydney.

Ambitious

Even as a university student, he had one consuming ambition: that of becoming a millionaire, if possible, at the age of 45. This passionate aim instilled in him an unswerving impetus to work hard day and night. After less than three years he managed to start his own architectural company. Wilfred’s efficiency, congenial disposition, and drive helped his business to grow exceptionally well.

Wilfred met a stunningly beautiful girl, whose luminous smile was as captivating as her attractive looks. At their marriage, family members and friends praised them as the ideal couple. Jenny, a qualified solicitor, worked for a well-known company of lawyers in Sydney. Within a few years Jenny presented Wilfred with a gorgeous baby girl and a bouncing little boy.

Three months before his 40^th birthday, something incredibly exciting happened: he became a millionaire. Wilfred’s thrill and joy knew no bounds. Wilfred built his ‘dream house’ according to the plan he himself had drawn. It was a six-bedroom mansion built on a small hill on a five-acre property.

Joyful

Family members and friends were invited almost every other weekend to share the joy and bounties of Jenny and Wilfred so generously provided. Fortune and success seemed to have smiled on Wilfred and Jenny extraordinarily – the delight of their family and friends and the chagrin of some who resented their ‘one-up’ lifestyle.

One afternoon Jenny took the children for a drive around the Northern Beaches in her brand-new Mercedes Benz. When they returned home, the children were in high spirits. Jenny was admiring the mosaic of beautiful plants and flowers dancing on the neatly manicured lawn in the garden. Her white mansion was nestling smartly like a sparkling jewel on an exquisite crown.

Jenny spotted Wilfred’s BMW parked outside the garage and knew he was back from his appointment with a businessman. Clutching the hands of her lovely children, she hastened to the front door of the house. She gently pressed her index finger on the doorbell which triggered a musical sound within. There was no response. Again she rang the bell on the massive door, and after a brief pause, again. Still no one still no one stirred to open the door.

Fumbling in her handbag, Jenny grabbed her house key and flung open the door, dragging her children with her. “Wil!” she called in her sweet, endearing voice, “Wil, where are you? We had a wonderful time and the children had great fun. And they want to tell you all about it.” “Yeah, Dad,” chimed in little Jasmine, “You’ll guess what we saw!”

Helpless

As the children sat on the step to pull off their shoes, Jenny dashed upstairs and weaved through the elegantly furnished lounge, eager to hug and kiss her darling husband. Jenny saw Wilfred’s briefcase on the shiny table in his spacious office-cum library. Wilfred was not to be seen there. She darted through the office to the adjacent room which had a large, comfortable sofa where Wilfred and Jenny usually relaxed and chatted away when their children were out playing or attending school. Jenny let out a scream, “Oh, no!” Wilfred lay on the carpet in a little pool of blood with a pistol on the floor. When their children scrambled upstairs and saw their mother weeping aloud, they were confused and started sobbing.

Later, the police came and searched the house for any clue as to what caused Wilfred’s death. They found a piece of yellow paper on which Wilfred had written in his excellent writing, “Sorry, I can’t possibly take the pressure. Wilfred Warren.”

It was such a shocking trauma for poor Jenny that she fainted, while the little ones were crying their hearts out at her side.

Months passed by before Jenny discovered that her husband had been involved in an illicit relationship with a beautiful but criminal girl, who was evidently blackmailing Wilfred and extracting hundreds of thousands of dollars from him every month.

Two agonizing, lingering years had passed, but Jenny had not gotten over her confusion, hurt, and anger.

Hope and Healing

One day a good friend of Jenny’s gave her a hand-out which advertised a public lecture, at the Sydney Law College. Susan, Jenny’s friend, invited her to attend this lecture and Jenny did. Dr. Wilson Tang was the speaker and his subject was “There is Hope”. As Jenny heard this talk with rapt interest, all the scriptures that she was taught as a teenager came alive with new meaning. Jenny was more than convinced that in Jesus Christ alone there was forgiveness, peace, and hope.

That night when she returned home, she found herself kneeling in her bedroom, and with tears rolling down her cheeks; she invited the Lord Jesus to be her personal Savior and Master of her life. And here began the healing for all the hurt that she had been through, which she experiences better each day.

 

Exhortation:

THERE IS HOPE

In a world of pain, sorrow, and hurt, apparently there is no prospect of getting comfort, hope, or peace. However, there is a voice that emerges out of the gloom of helplessness and hopelessness. It is the sweet, gentle voice of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. He says with a gleam of certainty and assurance:

“Come to me all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give your rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart; and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11: 28, 29).

All people are created by God in His own image and are most precious. In God’s perspective, there is no high or low, rich or poor, black or white. He loves them all alike.

God made us for Himself and we belong to Him. Hence there is an innate longing we have for God, unlike animals or birds.

“As a deer pants for the water brooks” groaned the man of God in Psalm 42: 1-2, “so pants my souls for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”

Cause of hopelessness

Without God in his life, man has emptiness, a vacuum, and a blank, which can never be filled with anything else.

We seek satisfaction and peace of mind in money, investment, and our achievements. We trust in the bank, in social security, in the local government, in other people, and ourselves. To our utter disappointment and dismay, we discover the futility of doing this, because all these in the end become like a mirage in the desert.

The instruction of the Bible is clear:

“If riches increase, do not set our heart on them” (Psalm 62:10).

“Trust in Him (God) at all times” (Psalm 62:8)

“The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).

Our Lord Jesus Christ comforts His people with these assuring words:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me” (John 14:1)

Hope in Christ

There is mercy in God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. “Let the wicked forsake his way,” God graciously commands, “and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7). “Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13).

Forgiveness is another blessing that is offered through the meritorious work of Christ accomplished for all the people of the world on the cross. The cross, in this context, represents the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ for the sins of all mankind.

“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us,” declares the Word of God, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn. 1:8, 9).

Helpless religion

There is no forgiveness in religion, but only an endless cycle of paying penances and doing good works to appease the gods. There is no forgiveness in the New Age Movement. As Bertrand Russel said, “Forgiveness is a beggar’s refuge. We must pay our debts.” But how can a bankrupt pay his debts?

God does not condone our guilty actions or sins. He forgives us because He punished His darling Son, Jesus Christ, and gave Him up to die on our behalf. Now on this ground alone, God offers forgiveness to all who are prepared to forsake their foul, despicable ways, and return to Him.

Unsatisfied mankind

People are never satisfied. Tall people wish they were a little shorter! Short people want to be taller: some wear high-heeled shoes to make them look taller! The one who has $100,000.00 feverishly works hard to get one million dollars, but when he gets that, it does not satisfy him still; he now wants ten million dollars!

Those who have straight hair wish they had curly hair; and others who have curly hair long straight hair! Dark-skinned people wish for fairer skin, and fair-skinned people go to great lengths to have their skin tanned! Many of them lay on sea beaches, exposing themselves to the heat of the sun in the fond hope of getting darker!

Lonely, weary, and empty, the woman of Samaria was confronted by Jesus Christ, who deliberately made a detour, to meet with her. Jesus said to this unnamed woman, "Whoever drinks of this water (in the well) will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4: 13, 14).

Sustaining Love

There is steadfast and satisfying love in Jesus Christ. He loved us so much that He willingly died for us and all mankind on the shameful, cruel cross. His love was not mere words but was powerfully and eloquently demonstrated to all.

“Greater love has no one than this,” He affirmed, “than to lay down one's life for his friends” (John 15: 13). Of Jesus it was written, “…having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). Jesus declared, "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep” (John 10: 11). Referring to the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul testified, “…the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

Dear reader, trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will never be disappointed. Hand over yourself to Him, and you will never regret it. Believe in Him with all your heart, and you will never be ashamed. Abandon yourself to Jesus Christ in totality, and you will not lose anything – except your sin, shame, and damnation.

- Dr. G. D. James

More from this issue: -

Perspective: Troubled Minds:The Divine Response
Outline: ONE ANOTHER: Believer’s Mutual Responsibility
Anecdote: The Cost of Fortune and Success
Exhortation: THERE IS HOPE
Meditation: LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED
Practical: The Speaking Trees
Gospel: “Come Unto Me”
Worthy Quotes: Believer’s Mind

22/02/24

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