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T O D A Y G O D I S F I R S T
Marketplace Meditations
by Os Hillman
Monday, November 22, 2004
A Question of Ownership
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My
sake will find it.
Matthew 10:39
Otto Koning was a missionary in New Guinea. He worked among a native
tribe that had known only their village ways. One of those village ways
was stealing from others. When Otto and his wife arrived and moved into
a hut, the natives often came by to visit. The Konings would notice that
after the natives left the missionaries' home, various household items
had disappeared. They saw these items again when they went to preach in
the natives' village.
The only fruit Otto could grow on the island was pineapples. Otto loved
pineapples, and he took pride in the pineapples he was able to grow.
However, whenever the pineapples began to ripen, the natives would steal
them. Otto could never keep a ripe pineapple for himself. This was a
frustration, and he became angry with the natives. All during the
seven-year period in which this took place, Otto preached the gospel to
these natives, but never had a conversion.
The more the natives stole, the angrier Otto became. Finally, one day
Otto had a German Shepherd dog flown in from another missionary to
protect his pineapple garden after other frustrated efforts failed. This
only further alienated the natives from him.
Otto took a furlough to the United States and attended a conference on
personal rights. At this conference, he discovered that he was
frustrated over this situation because he had taken personal ownership
of his pineapple garden. After much soul searching, he gave his garden
to God. Soon the natives started having problems among their tribe. They
discovered that Otto was the reason for their problems because he gave
his garden to his God. The natives saw a correlation between what Otto
had done and their own lives being affected by calamities in their
village. When Otto gave his garden to God, he no longer got angry and
was free from worry. The natives started bringing him fruit from the
garden because they didn't want any more calamities to come into their
village.
The light came on one day when a native said to Otto, "You must have
become a Christian, Otto. You don't get angry anymore. We always
wondered if we would ever meet a Christian." They had never associated
Otto with the kind of person he was preaching about because his message
did not line up with his life. Otto was broken in spirit when he
realized he had been such a failure.
At the end of seven years, he witnessed his first conversion, and many
began coming to Christ once he fully gave his garden to God. The fruit
grew so abundant that Otto began exporting it and growing other types of
fruit, such as bananas. His village became the most evangelized in the
whole region, yet for seven years he had not one convert.
Otto realized something each of us must realize: To gain your life you
must lose it, along with your possessions. It was only when he gave all
his possessions to God that he became free from them. God measured back
to him manifold once He had complete ownership.
Do you have some possessions that you need to give up to God today? Let
God have all that you have. Become a steward, not an owner. You will be
surprised at how well God can take care of His possessions.
Presenting the Gospel to others is considered by many to be a very
frightening experience, yet we all have opportunities to share Christ
with those in our sphere of influence. Show and Then Tell, by FCCI
President Kent Humphreys and his wife Davidene, teaches step-by-step how
to first live as examples of God's goodness, and then to maximize
opportunities to openly communicate Truth in your workplace, home,
neighborhood, and social circles.
http://www.faithandworkresources.com/store_items_view.asp?itemid=859
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Published and distributed by Crosswalk.com, this daily devotional is
written by Os Hillman ([EMAIL PROTECTED]). Os is president of
Marketplace Leaders, an Atlanta based ministry teaching Biblical
principles for career and business success. He offers a FREE newsletter
and other resources at:
http://www.marketplaceleaders.org
Order "TGIF: Today God Is First" - 365 daily meditations to motivate
and inspire for $17 for TGIF subscribers. Click here to order:
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Mail: 3520 Habersham Club Drive, Cumming, Georgia 30041 USA.
To receive personal prayer or encouragement, please visit Marketplace
Leaders' ministry partner http://www.handsforchrist.com
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