MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
March 27, 2006

WHERE ARE YOU GOING? – ARE YOU THERE YET?

By: Ken Korkow

You may have heard this story before, but it’s worth repeating because of the perspective it gives:

A boat was docked in a tiny seacoast village. A tourist from another country complimented the fisherman in the boat on the quality of his fish, and asked how long it had taken him to catch them. "Not very long," answered the fisherman. "But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?" asked the tourist.

The fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family. The tourist, a successful businessman, then asked, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"

"I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs. I have a full life."

The businessman interrupted, "I have an MBA from a very prestigious university’s business school. I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat."

“And after that?" asked the fisherman.

“With the extra money the larger boat will generate for you, you will be able to buy a second one, then a third one and so on, until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to a big city anywhere in the world! From there you can direct your huge new fishing enterprise."

"How long would that take?" asked the fisherman. "Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years," replied the businessman, enthused about his wise counsel.

"And after that?"

"Afterward? Well, my friend, that is when it gets really interesting," answered the businessman-tourist, laughing. "When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!"

"Millions? Really? And after that?" inquired the fisherman

"After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends."

The moral to this story is: Know where you're going in life – you may already be there!

In the Bible, Jesus expressed this principle in a different way: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19-21). A key to a successful, fulfilling life is establishing and maintaining the right priorities.

Ken Korkow lives in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S.A., where he serves as an area director for CBMC. This is adapted from the “Fax of Life” column that he writes each week. Used with permission.

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Reflection/Discussion Questions

1. What is your reaction to this story about the fisherman and the businessman-tourist?


2. Do you think it is a common problem to become so focused on long-term ambitions that we can easily lose sight of what we already have? Explain your answer.


3. Thousands of years ago the king of Israel, Solomon, who was as renowned for his wisdom as for his wealth, wrote, “Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless” (Ecclesiastes 5:10). What steps do you think might be helpful for striking a practical balance between striving for future goals and objectives and yet being able to appreciate and enjoy what we have already attained in the present?


4. The passage quoted at the end of this “Monday Manna” speaks about having an eternal perspective and setting eternal, rather than temporal, priorities? Do you agree with it? Why or why not?


NOTE: If you have a Bible and would like to review some other passages that relate to our this topic, consider the following verses:

Proverbs 18:11, 28:11; Ecclesiastes 1:1-11,2:17-26, 5:10-12



週一嗎哪
服事全球工商界2006.3.27

你要走去那裡？－－你到達了嗎？

可能以前你聽過這個故事，但它實在發人深省，所以值得再看一遍：

有一艘小船停靠在一個小漁村的碼頭，一位外國觀光客稱讚那船上的漁夫捕了許多魚，又問他花多少時間捕了這麼多魚。漁夫回答：「沒多久。」那觀光客就問：「為何你不多花點時間，去捕更多魚呢？」

那漁夫解釋說，他的少數魚穫就足夠自己和家人的需要。那觀光客是位成功的商人，又問：「你其他的時間都作些什麼？」

「我早上起得很晚，捕一會兒魚，和我的孩子們玩耍，和我的妻子睡個午覺。晚上到村子裡去找我的朋友們小酌一番，彈彈吉他，唱唱歌。我享有充實的生活。」

那商人打斷他：「我在一所很有名望的大學商學院拿到企業管理碩士。我可以幫助你！一開始你應該每天多花一些時間打魚，這樣你就可以把多餘的魚賣出。有了這額外的收入，你就可以買一艘大一點的船。」

「然後呢？」漁夫問。

「大一點的船就會為你賺更多錢，你就可以買第二艘船、第三艘船、第四…，直到你擁有一整隊拖網船。那時你就不需要把魚賣給中盤商。你可直接與鮮魚處理場議價，或許甚至開你自己的處理場。然後你就可以離開這個小漁村，搬到世界上任何一個大都市！在大都市，你就可以直接指揮你的大型捕魚企業。」

「這要花多少時間？」漁夫問。「20年，或者可能要25年。」商人熱心地提出明智的諮詢。

「然後呢？」

「然後？我的朋友，然後就是最有趣的部份。當你的生意真的作得很大，你就可以開始銷售股票，賺幾百萬美元！」那商人觀光客笑著說。

「幾百萬？真的嗎？然後呢？」漁夫問道。

「然後你就可以退休，住到靠海邊的小村莊。早上起得很晚，和我的孩子們玩耍，釣一點魚，和你的妻子睡個午覺。晚上和朋友們飲酒作樂。」

這故事的教導是：明白你生活的方向、目標，可能你已經到達了。

在聖經中，耶穌用不同的方式表達這原則：「不要為自己積攢財寶在地上，地上有蟲子咬，能銹壞，也有賊挖窟窿來偷。只要積攢財寶在天上，天上沒有蟲子咬，不能銹壞，也沒有賊挖窟窿來偷。」（馬太福音6章19-20節）。成功、充實生活的秘訣是維持正確的優先順序。


思想 / 討論題目
1. 你對於這有關漁夫和商人觀光客的故事，有何看法？


2. 你是否認為太專注於長程的雄心壯志，而忽視自己已經擁有的人事物，是一個普遍的問題？ 請解釋。


3. 幾千年前，以色列王所羅門以智慧和財富著稱，他寫道：「貪愛銀子的，不因銀子知足。貪愛利益的，也不因得利知足。這也是虛空。」（傳道書5章10節）。你認為應採取什麼步驟才可以幫助我們平衡努力達成未來的目標，而同時享受我們目前享有的人事物？


4. 本篇週一嗎哪最後引述的經文說道要有永恆的觀點，把永恆的事列為優先，而非現世的事。你是否同意？ 為什麼？


註：若你有聖經且想要看有關此主題的其他經文，請看：
箴言18章11節，28章11節；傳道書1章1-11節，2章17-26節；5章10-12節