the truth about it

The choir had just finished rendering a soul touching songs of worship and praise, every member of the congregation was in the mood to go to heaven. I was willing to be the first on the list, honestly I was. The pastor mounted the altar, he was a man in his early thirties. He was wearing a black suit and a cream colored shirt and a red tie. He carried himself so gracefully like he was very much aware of the fact that he had a connection with a much higher being. Suddenly everywhere became dump with silence, and ears twitched. He had a story to tell. "One day a fisherman sailed out to the sea with his son and the son's friend. That night nature was at rest, and the fisherman hoped for a big kill. They sailed deep into the sea, searching for the kill zone, but along the way they met a raging storm. The fisherman and his companions knew that they were in for a terrible ordeal, one they had not bargained for. As the storm caught up with their speed, a forceful wind swept across them, rocking the boat and sending overboard his son and the friend. The boat was drifting away from the spot where the boys were trying so hard to stay afloat. The fisherman had the chance of saving just one person out of the two that were floating on the sea. He had one life jacket with him, this he threw over board to his son's friend, thus saving his life and allowing his son to drown. The fisherman had given up someone important, someone valuable to him in order to save another life". When he had finished talking, the two little boys that were sitting close to me touched the old man that was sitting next to them and asked him if the pastor's story was a true life story. The old man turned to them and said," the story is not a figment of his imagination. I am the old man; the boy that died was my son. And the pastor is his friend. My son was a born again Christian and his friend were not. I saved his life to give him a second chance at knowing God". I gave up my son sacrificially. While we are on the subject of "Don't we All", it may not be out of place to enquire from you when last you offered a sacrifice.. The kind of sacrifice that involves the fact of giving up something important or valuable to you in order to help another person get something that seems important to him. Something that will affect his life positively. Curiosity prompted me to inquire as to the nature of this idea. I have suddenly realized that one of the biggest jobs in the world is this; giving up something that is valuable to us, and one of the greatest joys in life is this; knowing that we have been able to reach out and touch a life, thus affecting that life positively. In view of this, there is therefore a need for us to prescribe for ourselves a line of thought that should inspire us to give sacrificially. The idea of giving up something important to us to help others should be a habit of daily communication with others. This act insures the endurance of our riches and also serves as a dependable fetish through which we can draw upon the powers of the highest being. The zeal to give sacrificially, to want to give up something important to us for others to benefit from gives power to our thoughts, and momentum to deeds. This helps to transmute into an enduring asset of priceless value of attainment of any purpose for us. When we give sacrificially we are sowing the seed of an equivalent reward because with time the seed will germinate into a full blown flower of opportunity. Giving up something valuable or important to us provides benefit far beyond the mere accumulation of material riches. This act is like a fertile, almost unlimited, field for the cultivation of upliftment and attainment. It is the sowing and reaping business. One that opens the door to success in the higher bracket of individual achievement. We all have the privilege of giving sacrificially as a means of accumulating a reserve credit of goodwill and to provide for ourselves a just reason for demanding for more favors from God. No one should be compelled to give sacrifially; it must be a habit adopted on one's initiative. It is an art of self expression that opens a door. We can find happiness by helping others find it. It is true that most of us are limited by the space allotted to us. However the little we can give sacrificially can speak volumes of our benevolence. Most of us have been blessed because we choose to give sacrificially. Most of us acquired our riches through the act of receiving, the opportunity to give up something that is important or valuable to us to help others should be embraced; it should be one of our greatest satisfactions in life. Can we be completely happy if we fail to give sacrificially, knowing that there is someone who really needs that help? Sometimes when we fail to offer certain assistance, we fail to free the mind from certain inhibitions and self imposed limitations which may directly or indirectly bring about the upliftment of today's desires and tomorrows aims. The greatest benefit from giving sacrificially does not come to those to whom the help is rendered. It comes to the one who has made the sacrifice; his deeds come back to him greatly multiplied. ‘THAT WHICH I GIVE AWAY CAN I RETAIN AS MY OWN"