The Richest Man in the Valley

By Harold Smith

I have a story for you again today, my story today is about the richest man in the valley. This story is told about a man in Norway, who was a farmer and he had the best farm, and he had the most money of anybody in the valley. He really wasn't rich toward God, but he had a lot of this world's goods. One day he was looking over his great farm with all of its cattle and buildings and fields and he was riding around, and he came to one of his servants, an old farmhand named Hans. Hans was eating his lunch and he bowed his head, and he was giving thanks for his food. You know, the rich man looked in his lunch pail and he didn't have very much to eat, just a few slices of bread and a little piece of something, not very much, and the rich man thought, "Well, that wouldn't be much of a meal for me, I'm glad I'm not poor like him". But old Hans was very happy, he was always happy. Do you know why he was happy? He was happy because he was saved! He knew the Lord, and he knew the Savior. And he said to his boss, "Boss, I had a dream last night. I was dreaming about dying and I was dreaming about going to Heaven and I dreamt that the riches man in the valley would die tonight. Then I woke up". And the rich man thought, "Well I'm the richest man in the valley", but then thought, "oh well, that's just an old man's dream". So he went home and he wasn't very happy and he didn't feel very good and he felt sick and he called the doctor, and he told the doctor about this fellow's dream. And he thought there might be something to it, and he said, "I'm afraid I'm going to die". But the doctor kept telling him there was nothing wrong with him. And it kept getting later, and it was almost near midnight and he was afraid. And then somebody came running in and said, "Sorry to disturb you sir, but your old farmhand Hans just died very suddenly, he's dead". Now the rich man was relieved, because the richest man in the valley didn't die. But you know, boys and girls, he really did, because old Hans was the richest man in the valley. He had eternal life. He had a mansion in Heaven. Heaven was his home, that was more than the rich man had. What about you? Are you rich toward God? Do you know the Lord Jesus? Are you saved? If you're not, be saved today.