{"id":115,"date":"2013-01-29T15:50:21","date_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ihsteps.com\/wordpress\/?p=115"},"modified":"2013-01-29T15:50:21","modified_gmt":"2013-01-29T15:50:21","slug":"rich-vs-poor-a-fictional-story-by-tammy-maseberg-january-29-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/?p=115","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRich vs. Poor\u201d (A Fictional Story), by Tammy Maseberg, January 29, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.\u201d\u00a0 (Proverbs 13:7, NAS)<\/em> <\/p>\n

\u00a0It was kind of funny, but not in the hilarious sort of way.\u00a0 Weird funny.\u00a0 Winston and Jacob were so different and yet met the same fate on the same day, bleeding the same color of blood.\u00a0 Both men were making a deposit that Monday when the two masked men stormed into the bank.<\/p>\n

Winston\u2019s wealth was public knowledge\u2014he was anything but shy about showing off his affluence.\u00a0 The day he made his first million, he declared himself richer than God Himself and changed his name from Bob Smith to Winston Rich III.\u00a0 There was no senior Winston or junior before him\u2014he just thought the Roman numerals at the end sounded good. Dignified.\u00a0 Important.<\/p>\n

Jacob took care of his finances but without broadcasting them to everyone around him. He was born a Potter and died a Potter that day in the bank, next to the guy who insisted on three I\u2019s added to his name for no reason.\u00a0 Jacob received a generous bonus one year, so he took his wife and four children to the Black Hills to celebrate.\u00a0 They adored him. <\/p>\n

Winston had no children.<\/p>\n

Jacob was depositing money to pay for his son, Josiah\u2019s, mission trip to Peru.\u00a0 The check was put in his account later.\u00a0 Josiah left a month after the funeral.\u00a0 The Potter account had $200 left in it when it was all said and done.\u00a0 Jacob wasn\u2019t a bad manager of his money\u2014he just gave it to anyone who was in need.\u00a0 He always said he felt such great joy when God allowed him to bless others.\u00a0 But, he never neglected his family either, even in his death.\u00a0 A generous life insurance policy was there for them.\u00a0 He owed not a single cent to a single person or creditor.<\/p>\n

Mr. Rich died with several millions in multiple bank accounts.\u00a0 The few people who attended his funeral looked to see if there were $100 bills in the casket.\u00a0 He always said he was going to take it with him, but it wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 He was, however, buried in the most expensive suit available and a ridiculously overpriced casket.\u00a0 The funeral home was pleased with their profit, and the siblings didn\u2019t care\u2014none of the estate was going to them anyway.\u00a0 They hadn\u2019t even talked to Bob, or whatever his name was, for years.\u00a0 The irony of him dying while in a bank made them laugh.\u00a0 In the end, his money could not save him.\u00a0 Sad.<\/p>\n

This account is fiction, but I wonder how many people live as the two men in the story.\u00a0 Makes me think.\u00a0 Winston, indeed, was sure he was rich.\u00a0 Everyone he encountered in his life thought he was wealthy.\u00a0 But, to me\u2014he seemed steeped in poverty.\u00a0 How sad if a man dies with no one to miss him.\u00a0 Jacob, on the other hand, was seen as poor in this world.\u00a0 And yet, I think a life such as his was prosperous.\u00a0 He left a rich legacy that lived on in his children and beyond.<\/p>\n

I like the way The Message puts Proverbs 13:7 \u2013<\/p>\n

\u201cA pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0Lord, help me to live to be rich\u2014but only in You.\u00a0 If the world thinks I\u2019m poor, so be it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cFor what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life [in the eternal kingdom of God]?\u201d\u00a0 (Mark 8:36, Amplified Bible)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a92013 Tammy Maseberg All Rights Reserved<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThere is one who pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, but has great wealth.\u201d\u00a0 (Proverbs 13:7, NAS) \u00a0It was kind of funny, but not in the hilarious sort of way.\u00a0 Weird funny.\u00a0 Winston and Jacob were so different and yet met the same fate on the same day, bleeding […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-word-from-tammy-maseberg","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inhisstepsministry.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}