Topics: Envy; Greed; Materialism
References: Proverbs 14:30; Colossians 3:5–6
A hip young man bought one of the best cars around: a Ferrari GTO. He took it out for a spin and stopped at a red light. An old man on a moped pulled up next to him. The old man looked over at the sleek, shiny car and asked, “What kind of car ya got there, sonny?”
“A Ferrari GTO. It cost half a million dollars.”
“That’s a lot of money,” said the old man. “Why does it cost so much?”
“Because this car can do up to 320 miles an hour!” said the young man proudly.
“Mind if I take a look inside?”
“No problem,” replied the owner.
The old man poked his head in the window and looked around. “That’s a pretty nice car, all right!”
Just then the light changed, and the driver decided to show the old man just what his car could do. He floored it, and within thirty seconds the speedometer read 160 miles per hour. Suddenly he noticed a dot in his rearview mirror. He slowed down to see what it could be, and—whoosh—something whipped by him going much faster.
“What on earth could be going faster than my Ferrari?” the young man said to himself. Then, ahead of him, he saw a dot coming toward him. Whoosh! It went by again, heading the opposite direction—and it looked like the old man on the moped.
Couldn’t be, he thought. How could a moped outrun a Ferrari?
Once more, though, he saw the dot in his rearview mirror, followed by a bang as the speeding object crashed into the back of his car.
The young man jumped out and saw the old man lying on the pavement. He ran to him and asked, “How can I help?”
The old man whispered, “Unhook … my suspenders … from your side-view mirror.”
The moral of the story: Be careful what you admire!
—Brett Kays, Brownstown, Michigan