Keep Our Loincloth

(Category: Journey Through Faith)

The following story is based on 1 Timothy 6: 6-10.  The scripture is at the end of the post.

On a side note, it is often heard “Money is the root of all evil”.  Truth is; it is the “Love of Money” that is the root of all evil.  It is not acquiring money that is the problem, but loving money more than God himself.

(This is about an Eastern Guru that solved a problem, but lost his way in doing so.)

~ ~ ~

The disciple was doing so well that the teacher left him on his own.  The man lived in a small mud hut, simply.  He spent his day in prayer and meditation, counting on the generosity of others for his food.  Each morning after his devotions, the disciple washed his loincloth and hung it up to dry.  He then went to bathe himself and prepare for his day of spiritual work.  

One day, he came back to discover that his loincloth had been torn and eaten by rats.  He begged the villagers for another, and they gave it to him.

But the rats got that one, too.  So, he got himself a cat.  That took care of the rats, but now when he begged for his food, he had to beg for milk for the cat as well.

“This won’t do,” the thought.  “I’ll get a cow.” So, he got a cow and found he had to beg now for feed for the cow.  So, he decided to till and plant the ground around his hut.

But soon he found he had no time for prayer and spiritual practices, so he hired servants to tend his farm.  But overseeing the labors became a chore, so he got married to have a wife to help him.

After a while, the disciple became the wealthiest man in the village, but he also had an ulcer from the care of the place, and prayer was now a thing he only had time for on the weekends – and then only for an hour.  He was constantly worried that someone might rob him and became more and more suspicious of the people he had once prayed for.

The man’s teacher was traveling by there one day and was shocked to see that where there used to be a simple mud hut there now loomed a palace surrounded by a vast estate, worked by many servants.  He did not find his disciple praying for the people of the village, but busy working to get even more!  “What is the meaning of this?” He asked his disciple.

“You won’t believe this, Sir,” the man replied, “but there was really no other way I could keep my loincloth.”

1 Timothy 6: 6-10 (NKJV)

6 Now godliness with contentment is great gain.  

7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.  

8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.  

9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition.  

10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.

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