once upon a time, there lived a king who, despite his wealth, was neither happy nor contented. one day, he came across a servant who was singing happily as he worked. this fascinated the king - why was he, the supreme ruler of the land, so unhappy & gloomy, while this lowly servant had so much joy in his heart?
so he asked the servant,"why are you so happy?", to which the servant replied,"your majesty,
although i am just a lowly servant, my family don't need too much - just a roof over our heads & food to fill our tummies."
later that day, the king sought the counsel of his most trusted advisor. after hearing the king's woes & the servant's story, he concluded,"your majesty, i believe the servant has not been made part of the 99 club." the king asked,"the 99 club? what exactly is that?" the advisor replied,"your majesty, to truly know what the 99 club is, just put 99 gold coins in a bag & leave it at the servant's doorstep."
when the servant saw the bag, he took it into the house. when he opened it, he shouted for joy - there were so many gold coins & he started to count them. after several counts, he was convinced that there were 99 coins. he wondered what could have happened to the last coin, for no one would have left just 99 coins. he looked everywhere but the last coin remained elusive. finally, exhausted, he decided that would have to work very hard to earn the 100th coin to complete his collection.
from that day on, the servant's life changed. he was overworked & grumpy, & criticised his family for not helping him get the last coin. he also stopped singing while he worked. witnessing this drastic transformation, the king was puzzled. the advisor then told him that the servant has finally joined the 99 club.
we can be happy with little in our lives, but the moment we are given something better or bigger, we want even more! we lose sleep, happiness, & we hurt people close to us. this is the price we pay for our growing greed & desires. that's what joining the 99 club is all about!
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 1 Tim 6:7-9
**thanks, YO, for the email**
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doc in private practice venting steam....because life is more than just stethoscopes, syringes & getting woken up at unearthly hours.
10 comments:
In today's term, it's the 1st million. Then the next, and the next and........
Iml,
true, but the moral of the story is still the same.
99 club will never satisfy
because of eccl 3 v 11 .." He has
set eternity in the hearts of men..."
just me
Just me,
but yet men can't fathom what God has done.
yet men can yearn and thirst for what is not yet in reach?
Count what we have - then we will be happy.
If we start to count what we do not have - life will be miserable.
Happy counting, doc.
Beng,
because men yearn & thirst not for the Living Water.
Yan,
thks. all very true.
True...and all because he thought there were 100 but then again, that 1 would mean a lot to somebody poor so that was what got him upset...not that he actually was greedy and wanted more!
STP,
i still think he was greedy because initially he had nothing but was happy. then, despite his new-found fortune which he gained without effort, having 99 isn't enough, & searching fruitlessly for the 100th has brought out the worst in him.
truly a cautionary tale for all!
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