"We Can't Afford It"
How often have you heard your mummy or daddy say this – "We can't afford it." Perhaps you have wished for something but have had to say, "I can't afford it." We usually say this with regards to "material" things; but there are lots of areas in our life that it applies to as well. Here is a poem that tells us of some of those things that we can't afford.
"We can't afford to win the gain that means another's loss
We can't afford to miss the crown by stumbling at the cross.
We can't afford the heedless jest that robs us of a friend;
We can't afford the laugh that finds in bitter tears an end.
We can't afford the feast today that brings tomorrow's fast;
We can't afford the race that comes to tragedy at last.
We can't afford to play with fire, or tempt a serpent's bite;
We can't afford to think that sin brings any true delight.
We can't afford with serious heed to treat the cynic's sneer;
We can't afford to wise men's words to turn a careless ear.
We can't afford for hate to give back hatred in return;
We can't afford to feed a flame and make it fiercer burn.
We can't afford to lose the soul for this world's fleeting breath.
We can't afford to barter life in mad exchange for death.
But blind to good are we apart from Thee, all-seeing Lord;
Oh grant us light that we may Know the things we can't afford!"
There is no record of who wrote that poem, boys and girls, but it can remind us of those words that our Lord Jesus spoke – "what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul."