There Was A Very Large Family That Lived Out In ...

There was a very large family that lived out in the country. They were always having financial problems. There was never enough money for food or clothes. They lived in an old beat up shack that they rented. Fortunately they had recently shot and killed a bear that had wandered onto their property. They had processed the bear meat and put it in canning jars so they would have food for the winter. One day the pastor visited and brought communion to the grandmother who was sick. As the pastor was leaving the man of the house gave him a jar of bear meat. The pastor said he couldn’t take it because the family needed it. The man said,”Pastor now you just have to take this. We want you to have it. We do not have much. This is a fact…but we are not poor.” The pastor asked, “What is the difference?” The man said,”When you give something away, even when you do not have much, then you are not poor. When you do not feel good giving something away, even if you have more then you need, then you are poor whether you know it or not.” Brothers and sisters are we poor? Are we poor towards God? Or are we like the man in this story?