Don't Sell Out

Many of us will never know how drastically just one decision will change the rest of our lives. I am going to tell you about a man that lived and died not realizing how one decision affected his life.

On a dark rainy evening in London, England, an old man shuffled down a cobblestone street with a violin under his arm. He was rummaging through a pile of junk looking for something to sell when he found the violin. He was on his way to the violin shop hoping to sell it for enough money to buy a meal. He was so hungry. It had been several days since he had eaten. He had never been inside the shop, but he remembered that a friend had told him that the owner of the shop was a nice man and had given his friend a few pence for a cup of coffee one cold evening.

When he arrived at the shop, it looked as though no one was there, but he knocked anyway. Finally the owner came to the door and asked him to step in out of the rain. His name was Mr. Butz. The old man held out the violin and told Mr. Butz that he wanted to sell it because he was hungry. Mr. Butz told him that he didn't need another violin and certainly not one in such poor condition. Sales had been slow and he had plenty of instruments. The old man's heart sank. Mr. Butz could see his desperation, so he gave him 5 pounds (about $8) for the violin.

The old man thanked Mr. Butz and quickly disappeared into the dark damp street.
Mr. Butz started to place the old violin on his work bench, but instead decided to put some strings on it and play a few notes. He was so surprised to hear the most heavenly sounds come from this violin. He turned the violin on its side and held it up to a candle to see the label inside. He read, " Antonio Stradivarius, Cremona, Italy, 1704." Could this be the famous 1704 Strad that had been missing for almost 100 years? He rushed out into the rain to see if he could find the old man that sold him the violin. He called for him but the man was gone. He never found him.

That violin sold for about $1,000,000. (Stradivarius violins are worth from $1.5 to $6 million today.) The old man that sold the violin for a meal probably died hungry on the streets of London, England. He had a greater treasure in his hand than he realized. When you have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you have a priceless treasure. What a tragedy that people would think of selling out for the 'pleasure' of sin. "What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?" The true riches for a Christian are in Christ not in sin. Don't sell out. Sin will eventually overtake you. Resist the temptation.

So many times the devil will try to convince you that tomorrow will never come. He will tell you that you can continue in sin. He will tell you that you can keep doing things that you know are wrong and that tomorrow or next week you can do better.

Psalms 90:12, "Teach me to number my days that I may incline my heart to wisdom.

We number our years by our birthdates. If you are 13 years of age, and you live to be 70; you have 20,805 days to live. If you are 15 and you live to be 70; you have 20,075 days to live. If you are 20; you have 18,250 days to live. If you are 30; you have 14,600 days to live. If you are 40; you have 10,950 days to live. If you are 50; you have 7,300 days to live, and if you are 60; you have 3,650 days to live. The scripture that we just read in

Psalms says that we need to learn to number our days that we might incline our heart to wisdom. Everyday counts for good or for bad. How are you spending your time? How much are you praying? How much are you reading the Word? Use your time wisely, make good decisions and know that God loves you and that time is short for all of us compared to eternity.
.