Helping the Poor
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? [1 John 3:17]
"Baby Polar Bears"
The one thing Pudgy and the older baby polar bears he played with
loved to do is explore. Sometimes their moms and dads let them go out in a pack
and explore the many coves and hills that made up their beautiful polar world.
They made sure to stick together mostly but often split up in small packs of
two to explore several coves at a time. That often turned into a game of hunt
and catch with the smaller packs attacking each other playfully and wrestling
and sometimes falling into the frigid ocean as they played. They loved the cold
water and it made them even more playful.
Pudgy really liked being
with his friends, Boris, Hector and Philippe and playing all day while the
adults did whatever it is that adults do. One day they had found a whole area
of coastline that they had not explored so they were very excited. Suddenly as
Pudgy and Boris were playing tag in the water, they heard Hector yell out with
excitement “HEY LOOK WHAT I FOUND!”
All of the baby bears
ran as fast as they could to his voice. Pudgy’s feet kept slipping on the
ice and he would bounce on his fat belly and then get up but he was used to
that. That was how he ran. All of them stopped and just gasp at what Hector had
found. He was standing on the edge of a small cove that was almost completely
hidden from the sea or other inlets around it and the fish were so plentiful,
they were almost jumping onto the shore to be eaten. Boris was standing over a
huge stack of fish he had already pulled out for his snack. He looked up and
smiled and then yelled “WELL COME ON IN!”
The boys went wild
fishing and catching the biggest, fattest fish and eating as fast as they could
as though this paradise was going to disappear any second. Soon they were lying
on the side of the water moaning for being so full. They napped and got back to
their families before they were missed. For the next week, the four happy polar
bears snuck off to their secret cove and stuffed themselves full on the amazing
abundance of fish in that cove. To a polar bear, an unlimited quantity of fish
is like unlimited money or gold is to humans so you can imagine how much they
wanted to keep it all for themselves.
On the eighth day of the feast,
finally as they lay there groaning, Philippe said, “You know, I don’t
feel right keeping this to ourselves. Our parents work so hard to hunt for food
for us and when I get home, I am not even hungry any more. I know all of our
parents are pretty rich but maybe we should share this with our families.
“I think we should share it with the poor families in our
community.” Philippe suddenly announced. “You know Georgio's mom? She
is raising 10 cubs herself and her husband was killed by that fishing trawler
so it’s hard for her to find enough fish. I want to share with them.”
Quietly Pudgy thought that was a good idea but the other bears got very upset.
“All those cubs will eat it all gone and there will be none left
for us!” Hector worried.
“They can have our scraps but they
shouldn’t get the best. They are poor. They wouldn’t know what to do
with all this wealth. They would just waste it.” Boris added and they
threw snowballs at Philippe for such a dumb idea. Pudgy felt bad for now
defending Philippe who had to take that abuse all alone. All the way home, they
taunted him when finally Pudgy spoke up.
“I don’t think we
know best about this. Let’s consult King Marcos. He will know what to
do.” He advised.
King Marcos was the wise head of the polar bear
community and it was well known he would help them see what God would have them
do with the fortune. Boris and Hector knew that their parents were on some
committees with King Marcos so they would advise him that the wealthy deserve
this amazing discovery and that the poor should just have the left overs. The
day came for the little bears to go in and see King Marcos but the rest were
all scared so they made Pudgy go in and tell him what they found. When he came
out, all of the little bears were on fire with curiosity but all Pudgy said
was. “I just told him what we found. I told him both sides of our talks
about what to do with it all and he just thanked me and said he would decide
before the Polar Bear Council this Friday.
The Polar Bear council was
where King Marcos gathered every single bear in the community and told them of
his recent decisions, news that concerns the community and his rulings. The
meeting went on and on and on and the four baby bears were so bored but they
stayed to hear his decision.
“And now I want to tell you of four
baby bears who are setting an example of how to serve God and their fellow
bears.” The king finally announced. “These four bears found a
treasure trove of fish, enough to feed all of us for many generations to come.
They did not hoard it for themselves but they want to share it with all of us.
Come up here boys.” He said signaling to the four little bears to join him
on the flat rise where he did his announcements.
“These four baby
bears have given their find, which they could have kept hidden for themselves,
to the community and it is my decision that the first to visit the cove will be
the poorest amongst us. I decided this because this is what our great God who
created all living things would want and I know that in their hearts, these
wonderful boys want to serve God more than anything. They have truly brought a
miracle from God to us and God will reward them mightily.” The roar of
approval that went up from all the bears in the community was thunderous. Each
baby polar bear could look out and see their familes and see them beam with
pride for them.
All of the boys were blushing but when Pudgy looked
over at Hector and Boris, he knew that in their hearts they were both unhappy
with the decision but also embarrassed because they were being praised for
their love of the poor but they secretly didn’t want to serve. The meeting
ended and the four little bears met privately.
“I am sorry I
didn’t encourage us to give the fish to the poor.” Boris said.
“Pudgy, you and Philippe were right. We don’t deserve these praises
and yet somehow we feel proud that it turned out this way.”
“Its ok Boris” a voice came from behind them and King Marcos had
walked up and put his huge paws on their heads to give them some pats of
appreciation. “Even if you had your doubts, you did the right thing. And
because you overcame selfishness to serve God, your sacrifice is even more
wonderful. Forget your sins and praise God that you are going to be a good
little polar bear from this day forward.”
And from that day
forward all of the little bears were the best citizens of the community and
they knew that even better than the fish, the episode at the cove taught them
how to be humble and know God’s heart for the poor and that lesson was
more valuable than all the wealth in the universe.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. [Acts 4:32-35]
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Children's Christian Stories in one handy volume. This is a perfect
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