© 2006 SeanDietrich.com

THE RICH MAN AND THE POOR MAN
By Sean Dietrich

There once were 2 boys who were best friends from birth. They vowed to be best friends forever. One of the boys grew up to be a very wealthy man, and the other grew up to be a poor working-class man.

The rich man owned a large home, and a large vineyard that earned him a good income. His greedy wife and spoiled children wore the finest clothes money could buy. The rich man was usually busy as master of his vineyard, he rarely ever spent time with his family.

The poor man, on the other hand, was a working-class man with a small home and a small garden. He loved God very much, and spent a lot of time out in nature admiring God’s beauty. He had a loving wife who adored him and two well-behaved children. The poor man and his loving family lived a very simple life together.

The rich man envied his poor friend’s simple life, loving family, and love for God. One day the rich man decided to give a large amount of his money away in hopes of becoming like his poor friend. He gave a very large sum of money to his poor friend.

The poor man and his wife were thrilled at the gift. That night the poor man and his wife hardly slept at all because they were so excited over the money. They were also very worried someone might steal the money. "Where should we hide it?" They thought. "In a jar? No, not good enough! What about burying it in the ground?" They couldn’t stop worrying about the money.

After only a week, the poor man and his wife had been constantly arguing about how to spend the money. The poor man wanted to buy a new wagon and 2 oxen, but his wife wanted to buy new furniture and expensive fabrics. The arguments over money almost destroyed their wonderful marriage.

The poor man also found it impossible to take his usual walks out in nature like he used to. He was far too anxious to waste his time admiring nature and talking with God!

Finally the poor man came to his senses. “Life was much happier when all we could afford was a simple life!” The poor man said to himself. “With wealth, we only have more problems!”

The poor man gave the money back to his rich friend.

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”
--Jesus