Acres of Diamonds

This is a true story about an African farmer who had heard stories about other men who had found their fortune prospecting for diamonds. So he sold his farm and spent the rest of his life wandering the African plains unsuccessfully for diamonds. One evening in a fit of despondency he threw himself into a river and drowned.

Meanwhile, the man who had bought his farm was crossing a river on his property when he saw a bright flash of blue and red on the riverbed. He lifted the stone and admired it with curiosity, took it home and sat it on his mantelpiece. One day while a friend was visiting he picked up the stone and asked the man if he knows what he had found? The man replied that he thought it was a piece of crystal. His friend revealed that it was a diamond, in fact, it was one of the largest diamonds in the world. The man had trouble believing this saying that the creek was full of such stones, maybe not as large as that.

Needless to say, the farm the man had sold, to go off and find diamonds turned out to be the most productive diamond mine on the continent, there were acres of diamonds sprinkled generously throughout. The man had sold the farm for practically nothing.

If the farmer had taken the time to study and prepare himself to learn what diamonds looked like in their rough state and not gone rushing off he would have found he was surrounded by everything he was searching for, he was standing in the middle of his own acres of diamonds which he already owned outright. If only he had the wisdom and patience to explore everything he already had.

And so it is with us before we go off looking for greener pastures make sure our own is not as green if not greener. If the other pasture is greener it is quite possible the other pasture is getting more care. Take the time to study yourself explore your acres, find your diamonds. While you are checking out other pastures it’s quite possible someone is checking out your pasture.