One fine morning, a wealthy landowner—a lord in England—mounted his horse, took his shotgun, called one of his servants, and went out hunting.
In high spirits, he began teasing his servant:
“Tell me,” he said, “do you believe in God?”
“Yes, sir,” the servant replied, “I firmly believe in him, and I submit to His Word as it is written in the Bible!”
“Ah… very well,” said the lord. “Will you then explain something to me?
I, for one, have no regard for God whatsoever! I do not take him into account in my daily life and decisions, and my sins—as you call them—are many and constant.
Yet I am healthy, rich, and happy…
But you—you who believes and tries to live by the words of Jesus—you are poor, often sick, full of troubles and miserable!
How do you explain this? If the God you believe in truly exists, shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t you be rich, healthy, and happy—and I poor and miserable?”
What could the poor servant say? Even to him, the lord’s words seemed reasonable. So he remained silent.
But the lord pressed him, mockingly: “Well then… What do you have to say?”
The servant prayed silently within himself, asking God for wisdom and the right words to be spoken…
At that moment, the lord raised his shotgun and began firing at a flock of partridges in the nearby woods. He was a good shot, and he brought down many.
He sent his servant to gather them and, from a distance, he called out to him:
“Hey, you! Listen: pick up the wounded ones first, before they escape. Leave the dead ones last!—They are not going anywhere.”
So the servant did as he was told. He gathered them all, placed them in a sack, and they began the journey back. Halfway along the road, the servant finally spoke:
“Sir, may I answer now the question you asked me earlier?”
“Ah, Yes,” said the lord. “Let’s hear it.”
“Well,” said the servant, “I believe that God sends his servants—his angels—to awaken people, to help them truly believe in Jesus Christ and start living as he instructs them so that,one day, they may be allowed to enter his Kingdom. And it seems to me that God sends them… much like you sent me just now to gather the partridges:
He calls out to them from up high:
“Hey you, go first to those people whose hearts are still soft and tender—those who have not completely given themselves over to a self-centered lifestyle and are too busy trying to get rich and important while enjoying unreservedly worldly and sensual, pleasures…
Yes, go to those whose consciences is not dead yet, who may still repent, change, and be saved. Look for hearts that are humble and sincere—souls that thirst for whatever is just, good, true and praiseworthy. Do what you can to shake these men and women, to awaken them and bring them to their senses by whatever means: Hardships, illnesses, poverty, disappointments and sorrows and the like, so that they may begin to pay attention to my words and be saved.
As for the others—those who have become hardened and blinded by this world’s ways, and are happy living in sin and evil—leave them alone. They will not repent, they will not give time or thought to worry about their eternal destiny…’”
Dear Reader,
God is looking for people who want to become better persons, who hate what they have become, but thirst for what is holy, good, praiseworthy and eternal.
And he pursues them by means of sorrows, failures, disappointments and difficulties, so as to cause them to seek their Creator who can change them from inside out and make out of them the kind of people that he, -and they themselves- want to become!
Are you one of them?
Or do you belong to the other group—the ones that God leaves undisturbed:
The worldly and busy ones, those who have given themselves over to the pursuit of success and pleasure, and whose aim is to enjoy their earthly life to the full without giving a thought to the hurt and wrong that they may cause to others!
Know for sure that these individuals will one day face the consequences of their hardness of heart and action. Jesus said:
“The road that leads to destruction is wide, and many walk upon it… But the entrance gate that leads to eternal life is narrow, and the way to there is filled with sorrows. Few are those who will follow it till the end!” (Matthew 7:13–14)
From these words we understand that the great majority of people are heading toward their eternal destruction—toward hell. Do not think that you are safe simply because you are among the “many”: Their end will be dreadful.
Rather chose to be among the “few” that seek to do what is right in God’s eyes, that «deny themselves, bear daily the cross that God has placed on their path, and submit to Jesus Christ.» (Luke 9: 23)
Their end will be wonderful, blessed and eternal!
Constantin Economides