What is the Secret of Life?

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Recently I came across this story about “a father {who} used to say to his children when they were young:  “When you all reach the age of 12 I will tell you the secret of life.”

The secret of life? That caught my attention. I hope it will you too. Here’s the secret of life.

One day when the oldest turned 12, he anxiously asked his father what was the secret of life. The father replied that he was going to tell him, but that he should not reveal it to his brothers.

“The secret of life is this: The cow does not give milk.”

“What are you saying?” Asked the boy incredulously.

As you hear it, son: The cow does not give milk, you have to milk it. You have to get up at 4 in the morning, go to the field, walk through the corral full of manure, tie the tail, hobble the legs of the cow, sit on the stool, place the bucket and do the work yourself.

That is the secret of life, the cow does not give milk. You milk her or you don’t get milk. There is this generation that thinks that cows GIVE milk. That things are automatic and free: their mentality is that if “I wish, I ask….. I obtain.”

They have been accustomed to get whatever they want the easy way…But no, life is not a matter of wishing, asking and obtaining. The things that one receives are the effort of what one does. Happiness is the result of effort. Lack of effort creates frustration.

So, share with your children from a young age the secret of life, so they don’t grow up with the mentality that the government, their parents, or their cute little faces is going to give them everything they need in life.

Remember:

“Cows don’t give milk; you have to work for it.”
~Author Unknown

What a great message about success in any endeavor. In an age of entitlement, governments handouts, and college loan forgiveness, our culture desperately needs to hear and heed this story, even if it’s probably apocryphal.

It reminds me of the famous quote by the legendary football coach, Vince Lombardi, “The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

The Bible, of course, speaks to the issue as well.

Regarding working to provide the necessities of life Paul penned, “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:7

To those who had quit working, become idle busybodies, Paul said they were “walking disorderly.” And offered this stern rebuke. “For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10-11).

Work gives us the means to help those in need (Eph.4:28).

Work provides satisfaction and allows us to enjoy “the fruit of our labor” (Eccl. 2:24; 3:13).

Work’s results actually makes us happy (Ps. 128:2).

Work keeps us from being a burden on other people, and society in general ( 1 Thess. 2:9).

Work is the foundation of prosperity and profit (Prov 14:23).

Work honors and glorifies God (Col. 3:23-24).

This morale of this story also applies to our spiritual “work of faith and labor of love” (1 Thess. 1:3). Christians are commanded “to be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (1 Cor. 15:58). No preacher, pastor, or deacon can do our work for us. Each person is responsible to do what they are able to do and bear their own burden (Gal. 6:5).

Paul’s exhortation to Timothy is one we need to apply as well. “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.”

Never forget life’s secret: “Cows don’t give milk; you have to work for it.”

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman