The Miser Of Marseilles

The book of Ecclesiastes 3:1 says -"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven." Most of us are not patient enough to understand this.
Am delighted therefore, to share this interesting story from the Christian Women Mirror 2015 with you. .
"There is a legend about how, years ago, there was an old man who used to walk the streets of that seaport town whom they called, The Miser of Marseilles." He was an object of derision throughout the whole city and even through the south of France, for everybody seemed to know him. Apparently, he loved nothing and had no other object than to hoard every bit of money he got hold of; for what purpose, none knew.
He was hated whenever he appeared on the streets. When he died; he was so despised that only a single person attended his funeral. Then his will was read, and these were his strange terms: " From my infancy, I noticed that the poor people of Marseilles had great difficulty in getting water. I noticed that water, the gift of God, was very dear and difficult to obtain. And when they could get that water, it was not as pure and clean as God intended it to be. Therefore, I vowed before God that I would live but for one purpose, for one end. I would save money, money, money; that I might give it to the city on one condition: that an aqueduct be built to bring fresh, pure watter from yonder lake in the hills to Marseilles. That I now make possible by leaving all my hoarded wealth to this city. This is my last will and testament."
Travellers in Marseilles today hear the poor people say as they drink the pure, sweet water from the lake in the hills, "Ah, when the miser died, we misunderstood him, but he did it all for us! We called him the miser of Marseilles, but he was more than that; he was the savior of Marseilles."
Now what have we learnt from this short story? We human beings are just too quick to give names and condemn people. Those mouths that condemned him while he was alive have now turned around praising him. He became a miser because of a whole city. Can you beat that? The question is what am I and you going to be remembered for? There is a hymn that says, you will only be remembered by what you have done.
O' LORD, please help us to know our motives in life and for people to understand our actions at times in Jesus' Name.

Thanx for your time.

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