How Much Do You Love Jesus?

‘When he had found one pearl of great price… [he] sold all that he had and bought it.’ Matthew 13:46 NKJV

In one of the most unique corporate take-overs ever, Stanley Tam legally transferred 51 per cent of the shares of his company to God. He started United States Plastic Corporation with thirty-seven dollars in capital. When he gave his business back to God, annual revenues were less than two hundred thousand dollars. But Stanley believed God would bless his business, and he wanted to honour God from the get-go.

At that point, most of us would have been patting ourselves on the back. Not Stanley. He felt convicted for keeping 49 per cent to himself. After reading the parable of the merchant who sold everything to obtain the pearl of great price, he made a decision to divest himself of all his shares. He said, ‘A man can eat only one meal at a time, wear only one suit of clothes at a time, drive only one car at a time. All this I have. Isn’t that enough?’ So on 15 January 1955, every share of stock was transferred to God, and Stanley became a salaried employee of the company he started. Before he was through, Stanley gave away more than 120 million dollars to the cause of Christ. If you want to measure the depth of your love for Christ, look at your calendar and your credit card statement. They don’t lie. How you spend your time and money are the two best barometers of your true priorities. Is Christ your pearl of great price? He wants to be. He deserves to be.

你有多爱耶稣？

他发现了一颗极贵重的珍珠，……变卖了他的一切，来买那颗珍珠。 (马太福音 13:46 新译本)

史上最特别的公司收购案当数Stanley Tam（史丹利），他将自己在公司中所占51%的股份合法地转让给了上帝。他曾经以37美元创办了美国塑料公司。当他把他的生意交还给上帝时，他的年收入也还不到20万美元。但他相信上帝会祝福他的事业，他想要从一开始就尊荣上帝。

之后发生的事情，我们更要望其项背了。史丹利觉得即便自己持有剩下49%的股份也不平安。在看了圣经中关于商人的比喻（商人卖掉所有，为了得到极贵重的珍珠）之后，他决定把自己全部的股份都献给上帝。他说：“一个人同时只能吃一顿饭，穿一套衣服，开一辆车。而这些我都已经有了。这难道还不够吗？” 1955年1月15日，他将自己所有的股票都转让给了上帝，而他自己则成了他创办公司的受薪雇员。史丹利一生中给基督的事工捐助了超过1.2亿美元。

如果你想衡量自己对基督爱有多深，看看你的日程和信用卡账单就可以了，它们是不会撒谎的。你如何使用你的时间和金钱，最能反映出你对基督的看重程度。基督是你的“极贵重的珍珠”吗？祂希望你能这样看，他也绝对值得如此。

翻译：段麦克