The Severed Arm

            Rick Ezell recounts the fable of a prosperous investment banker, who was driving his new BMW sedan on a mountain road during a snowstorm. He encountered trouble, lost control of his vehicle, and began sliding off the road toward the edge of a cliff.             

            Reacting instinctively, he flung himself out of his door and leaped from the car. The car careened down the mountain and burst into flames.

            The man escaped with his life, but he had experienced a grotesque injury. As he was jumping, the hinge of the door ensnared the banker’s arm. Consequently, the arm was severed at the shoulder.

            A trucker saw the accident and pulled his rig over to the side. He ran to see if he could help. He found the banker standing by the roadside—looking down at his car burning away below.

            The banker cried out, “My BMW! My new BMW!”

            The trucker pointed at the banker's shoulder and said, “Buddy, you've got bigger problems than a car. We've got to find your arm. A doctor might be able to sew it back on.”

            The banker looked at the spot where his arm had been, and began to moan, “Oh no! My Rolex! My new Rolex!”

            Sometimes, fables can reveal important truth. In our society, people are obsessed with material things. That is not a 21st-century phenomenon. People have always been what the Bible calls “greedy.”

             Those who trust in their riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf—Prov. 11:28.