A Rich Young Man Meets The Risen Jesus - Sung-Beom Ha. Shallom,
Hello. My name is Sung-Beom Ha from the Hanmaum Church in Chuncheon. My goal in life was to retire comfortably at age 40. Most people like money and have time, or if they make a lot of money, they lack time. But I had a lot of both. But there was no freedom or happiness in those. But now, I believe in the Risen Jesus, and with my lord, I have a new goal for the eternal Kingdom of Heaven.
I want to tell you about how i came to have the dream of a happy life the world could not provide. I was the only son of three kids, and I grew up receiving a lot of love. My father was a very intelligent man. He lived a very hard life as a young man studying in Seoul. But he was energetic and diligent, and he became a self-made man in this tough world. Because of my father, I had a very comfortable childhood. If you did exactly what my father did, you could probably become rich, too. His two keys to wealth were diligence and saving.
When I was a teenager, I had no time to talk to my father. He always left for work at 6 or 7 a.m. and came home at 10:00 or 11:00 p.m. And he rested exactly two days out of the year: on New Year's Day and on Thanksgiving Day. Also, my father's habits for saving money are incredible. My dad washed and reuses disposable wet wipes. He buys five-dollar pants at the market and hems them himself.
When he shops for groceries, he compares the prices on all the store flyers and only buys ridiculously cheap things. I still remember some of the things he's bought in the past. He's accomplished miracles like buying a tray of eggs for a dollar and 50 pounds of pork for ten dollars.
If the world was filled with people like my dad, all the stores would go bankrupt. My dad's favorite restaurant sells noodles for $2.50. Recently, he sadly told me that they raised the price 50 cents. But when he goes with me, he always spends an extra $3 to order tofu and kimchi. My father only spends money on golf. However, he tries to spend very little on that, too. He sometimes buys a golf club at the flea market. One time he bought one for $5.00. It worked really well.
One time, he called us, because he wanted to speak to his granddaughter. We were video chatting. And I could hear him, but I couldn't see him at all. It turned out that he had turned off the lights in his room to save electricity. Then I had no idea why he chose to call us via video chat. My father saved on himself, but he made sure I had everything I needed. Not only that, but he's generous to others, too, so he's well respected.
It is not a big amount, but he's been giving scholarships to needy university students for the past 15 years. I only heard about such things after I grew up through my father's friends. When I was young, I was unhappy with my dad for always being busy. But now that I become an adult, I've come to know what kind of man he is, a bit at a time.
I was not as Extreme as my father, but I was also a stickler for saving money. My dad had always told me that he didn't earn money; you saved it. I follow my wife around to turn the lights off after her. And when we eat out, we mostly use coupons. I also buy mostly used toys for my kids. When we buy clothes, we buy the ones that are on sale, 90% off at the outlet stores. If they are only 80% off, it still seems expensive, somehow. I'm such an expert on discount shopping that friends asked me for information before they buy something.
Once my wife and I went shopping and we found luxury Italian brands from the Galleria. They were all women's apparel, so I was disappointed, but we bought 20 items for $200 total, and they were originally worth $20,000 total. Basically, we got them at 99 percent off. I was on my wife's good side for a long while.
My wife and I met each other through a friend of my mother. I was told that my wife was a good Christian. Before we first met, I told myself that if I like her, I'll take her to a nice restaurant, and if I didn't, well just go for a light meal. As soon as I saw her, I decided on a restaurant. My wife really was a faithful Christian. And my parents provided me with a lot of things. Not only they let me grow up in a good environment, but thanks to them, I own two homes before I turn 30 years old.
Also, I inherit a large sum of money when my mother passed away. I invested in real estate with this money. It did very well, and my wealth only grew bigger.
I worked under My Father, but I kept looking for something new, because I knew that his business did not have a long future. That was how I started a media-related company with a friend. As a start-up, we didn't have a lot of funds, and we faced a lot of difficulties. But as we recruited experienced professionals and use all the resources within our social network, our company grew within a year you have about 40 employees. It was burdensome work, running a pretty sizable company at my age, but my partner was smart and good at his job. Plus, I had experienced people in my staff, so the company did pretty well.
My company's main task was managing the new center of a major broadcasting company. Because we had a contract, our base revenue was two million dollars, so we had no trouble running the company. As the company stabilized, my life got more comfortable. Things got busy when I had to prepare for new presentations or research company expansions.
But most of the time, I had a very leisurely work time. I like watching movies, so after our morning staff meeting, the staff and I would watch a movie in a large space as we ate hamburgers. Then I went back to the office, to do some paperwork, and go home early. If I had to meet people for business meals, it was at fancy restaurants.
I would travel just to find a good place to eat. Sometimes, my work day was playing golf with guests in clients. Usually, playing golf were business-related reasons isn't fun, but it was fun for me, because I didn't really need to do anything for them. Even as I live with much money in time, I didn't quit my saving habits. So it was very possible for me to achieve my goal of retiring at age 40.
But what followed a stable income and having lots of time were boredom, emptiness and an anxiety I couldn't explain. It was so odd. Everything was going according to my plans, but I had no satisfaction. My life became idle and I couldn't feel happy. When I talk with my wife about it, she advised me to pray. Contrary to my life in the world, my life as a Christian was not showing much progress.
I was later told that my wife and her small church members prayed for me for a long time. Then one day, my wife told me that she was going to the church retreat with our kids. I don't know why, but I thought, maybe I should go, too. I had attended Hanmaum Church for a long time, but it was the first time for me to attend a retreat. My wife thought the retreats were very important, but I had never thought so. But this time, I felt really desperate to go. I thought that since I was at the retreat, I might as well pay attention.
So I concentrated on the lectures as I took notes. For four days, I listen to the lectures and reviewed them, but nothing moved me in a big way. And near the end of the retreat, one thing pierced my heart while I was praying. It was Peters confession to Jesus. "Lord, you have eternal life. Whom else should we go to?" These words reminded me of the amazing lives of all the church members who had given their testimonies. How were so many people able to live change lives and become witnesses of the Resurrection even as they face so much hardship?
There are so many people who were changed by Jesus's words, but where am I looking for peace? The retreat ended with these kinds of questions in my mind. And they wouldn't leave my head.
Not much time later, I heard bad news at my company. A large company with whom we had a contract took our skills and people and put an end to the contract. They had meticulously planned to do this for a long time, and we took a huge blow. It was not a normal case of merger and acquisition, so we couldn't be compensated for our skills and people, either. And my company was met with a crisis. I was so downcast that I managed to tell my wife a week after it happened.
But what was so odd was that when I told her what happened to the company, her eyes brightened and she said that this was a God-given chance. She said, "God wants you to kneel. He wants you to come back. That's why He gave you a chance through this hardship." I didn't want to accept that, but I didn't have any excuse. I knew that I hadn't lived a life that God wanted. Meanwhile, I heard that one of my friends was having a hard time. Because he lived an extremely successful life, his failures seemed even harder. My hardship seems small compared to his.
I reached a conclusion: in order to save him, I had to share the gospel of the Resurrection with him. So I took him to church, and we talked with church members. But as we talked, it was me whose heart began to become passionate. Starting with the words that the Risen Jesus was God who came to this earth, I realize all the words in the Bible clearly. Then I began to see Jesus's Resurrection from Heaven's perspective. Then God's love came into my heart just as it was, and I was filled with pure joy as I cried and cried.
Tears would pour out of me when I just heard the phrase, "Jesus's resurrection." I didn't know what to do. I had repented the sin of unbelief in Jesus and confessed that Jesus was my Lord. However, in my actual life, I didn't give up my seat of lordship to Him. I had thought that my life was successful because of luck and good planning. I also thought I was a moral person who stayed humble despite the fact that I achieved success early.
I kept my boundaries and moral standards, and I sometimes even shared with people about Jesus. But my sharing had no power, because I hadn't relied on the Holy Spirit in earnest prayer so I had been my own lord as I evangelized. I knew that this world was darkness, so I thought that I wasn't living as a person of the world. But the devil had been tricking me. "God, I live a moral life. You know that."
I would comfort myself with excuses like these. I was my own lord! I was living as my own lord and yet I had been confident that I repented the sin of not believing in Jesus. I judge people of this world, the fact was that I had been no different from them. I had made God's heart ache. if I had lived as an outright sinner, at least I wouldn't have been confused about where I stood, but I had been compromising with the world while living as a "moderate" Christian.
This had turned me into a complete hypocrite. Once, a closed friend said to me, "You're a hypocrite! you know that?" I couldn't understand why he said that to me at all. I got mad, and I thought I was being persecuted for my faith! But I had actually been such an obvious hypocrite that even the world could see it.
So imagine how Jesus must have felt about me. Even the world could see me for what I was. I had repented the sin of not believing in Jesus with my lips only, and I was still living as my own lord. I could only imagine how sad Jesus must have felt as He watched me from within my heart. Jesus has sent me into the world as a disciple with a mission, but I had lived for another lord, called "myself." So I had retired at an early age but that I could make myself comfortable.
In the Bible, it says that Jesus wants us to live a blessed life, but it doesn't say that being rich makes you happy. The blessing He talked about was a true blessing incomparable to anything in this world, but I didn't know the eternal heavenly reward. Instead, I tried to enjoy the pleasures of this world. But when I went near those pleasures, I discovered that they didn't have true peace. I realized that no one, including rich people, could become happy by enjoying this world.
The reason why God makes believers of Jesus wealthy and receive blessings of this world is so that the people of this world can see them and come to believe in the Risen Jesus. Christians are God's tools; they aren't designed to live for the pleasures of this world. They are people who were called to this dark world as heavenly missionaries.
I no longer dream of retiring. I came they dream about storing up lasting rewards in heaven till the day I die. How can I sop working when even my lord jesus said, "My Father has worked thus far, so I work, too," and He worked even til his death on the cross. How can I be lazy? Even as I face tough times in my life, I will follow after Jesus and His life of fulfilling everything and rising again. I dream of living in my own, sound, risen body in heaven.
Nothing in the world you see gives you satisfaction, and it will all decay and perish. But the word who existed from the beginning of creation, our own souls, and Heaven, where we will go, are all eternal. I will work hard, desiring the sound peace that the Lord has promised. Thank You.
Source:
--- Thus Testimony from Sung-Beom Ha ...
- Langit dan bumi akan berlalu, tetapi perkataan-Ku tidak akan berlalu. - (Matius 24:35).
- Kata Yesus kepadanya: "Akulah jalan dan kebenaran dan hidup. Tidak ada seorangpun yang datang kepada Bapa, kalau tidak melalui Aku. - (Yohanes 14:6).
- Jawab Simon Petrus kepada-Nya: "Tuhan, kepada siapakah kami akan pergi? Perkataan-Mu adalah perkataan hidup yang kekal; - (Yohanes 6:68).
- Karena Allah itu esa dan esa pula Dia yang menjadi pengantara antara Allah dan manusia, yaitu manusia Kristus Yesus, - (1 Timotius 2:5).
- Sebab barangsiapa menabur dalam dagingnya, ia akan menuai kebinasaan dari dagingnya, tetapi barangsiapa menabur dalam Roh, ia akan menuai hidup yang kekal dari Roh itu. - (Galatia 6:8).
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