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The fisherman
One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach,
with his fishing pole
propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the
sparkling
blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and
the
prospect of catching a fish.
About that time, a businessman came walking down the
beach, trying to
relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the
fisherman
sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman
was fishing
instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his
family.
"You aren't going to catch many fish that
way," said the businessman to the
fisherman, "You should be working rather than lying on the
beach!"
The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and
replied, "And what
will my reward be?"
"Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more
fish!" was the businessman's
answer.
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the
fisherman, still smiling.
The businessman replied, "You will make money and
you'll be able to buy a
boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"
"And then what will my reward be?" asked the
fisherman again.
The businessman was beginning to get a little
irritated with the
fisherman's questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire
some people to
work for you!" he said.
"And then what will my reward be?" repeated
the fisherman.
The businessman was getting angry. "Don't you
understand? You can build
up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all
your
employees catch fish for you!"
Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what
will my reward be?"
The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the
fisherman, "Don't you
understand that you can become so rich that you will never have
to work for
your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days
sitting on this
beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the
world!"
The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said,
"And what do you think
I'm doing right now?"
Contentment is a difficult attitude to learn, but so
important. It's easy
to get caught in the world's trap of working harder and harder to
earn more
and more, when we may well already have what can provide us with
the
greatest possible happiness.
"Now godliness with contentment is great gain.
For we brought nothing into
this world, and it is certain that we can carry nothing out. And
having
food and clothing, with these we shall be content." (I
Timothy 6:6-8).
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