Missed Fortune
There is a regular gambler at the Nugget Hotel & Casino in Nevada. He goes there a couple of days a week to try his luck on the video poker machine. When asked how he is doing, 76-year-old Ron Wayne replies, “I’m living off my Social Security and I do a modest trade in collectors’ stamps and coins.”
On April 1, 1976, the same Ron Wayne started working for a new computer company: drafting documents, mediating disputes, and creating an operating manual. For this work, he was awarded a 10% stake in the new company.
But he had early misgivings. He had been unsuccessful in starting a previous business. He had racked up thousands of dollars in debt and was concerned that history would repeat itself with this new job. In order to make this newly formed company a success, it would require a lot of hard work and could be a very rough ride, one which he was reluctant to take!
Eleven days after he helped form the company, Ron removed himself from the company charter. He was paid $800 for his 10% stake in this fledgling computer company which they named… “Apple Computers.”
As you probably know, that stock eventually exploded in value. If his short-lived career at Apple had gone differently, he would be holding a different kind of winnings: 10% of Apple’s stock. Today, that stock would be worth $22 billion! Ron Wayne sold it for $800.
Yet, there is a far GREATER fortune available to ALL that sadly, MANY are forfeiting TODAY!
This “fortune” cannot be calculated monetarily for it is worth more than all the silver and gold in the world (cf. 1 Peter 1:18-19). This “treasure” will not rust, cannot be stolen, nor can it be destroyed by moths (Matthew 6:19-20). It is eternal, unlike the temporal things of this world (1 John 2:15-17). It is not something that can be earned (Ephesians 2:8-9) or won; it is a gift that must be accepted on the right terms.
The “FORTUNE” is ETERNAL LIFE and FORGIVENESS of SIN made possible through the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2).
This GIFT is available to ALL those who will place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized (immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).
PLEASE don’t squander YOUR opportunity to receive this “FORTUNE”…
Trust and obey Jesus today!
— David A. Sargent