John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil in the USA, was the world’s richest man in his generation. His near death experience taught him the real value of life.
The first billionaire
By the outbreak of World War One, Rockefeller had amassed a fortune of over one billion US dollars, making him the world’s first billionaire and the richest man of his day. When he died in 1937, his net worth was approximately 340 billion dollars in today’s money. John was not yet forty when his oil company, Standard Oil, was so powerful that it controlled 90% of the oil refined in the United States. While still a relatively young man, he was also America’s richest man.
Terminal Health issues
But, sadly, by the time he reached his early fifties, John D Rockefeller’s health was in rapid decline. He went downhill fast and within just months his whole body became wracked with pain. He lost all his hair, and he found it difficult to eat even small amounts of food. Even his great wealth could not buy relief. Although he could afford the most expensive and best foods available, he could only eat soup and crackers.
One of his closest associates said he became so sick that, “He couldn’t sleep, he wouldn’t smile, and nothing in life meant anything to him“.
Rockefeller’s highly trained personal doctors were stumped for a diagnosis, but they knew they were witnessing the physical decline of a man with a terminal condition. Despite not knowing exactly what was wrong, they agreed that all the indications suggested he would die within the next twelve months.
Christian faith and a divine revelation
John was a devout Christian and a faithful member of Euclid Avenue Baptist Church near his home in Cleveland, Ohio. The year passed painfully slowly, but John knew he was approaching death and would soon meet his maker. As he contemplated his fate on a daily basis, he awoke one morning with the realisation that he would not be able to bring any of his fortune with him to the next world. It seemed that God was speaking to his heart about his fallibility. He had worked very hard and had been well rewarded in this life, but it appeared his life would soon be over. He was likely reminded of a parable that Jesus told his followers.
The transient nature of wealth
When Jesus told the The Parable of the Rich Fool, he illustrated the short-lived pleasure of those who have great wealth in this life. The parable is found in Luke chapter twelve in the Bible.
Someone in the crowd said to him,
“Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.”
Jesus replied,
“Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?”
Then he said to them,
“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”
And he told them this parable:
“The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’
“Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’
“But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
“This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.”
A change of heart
Rockefeller was not a selfish or greedy man, but he was very ambitious and he knew that his ambition had earned him a massive fortune. He dominated the commercial world, but he suddenly realised he had no control over his personal life.
John contacted his solicitors, accountants, and the Standard Oil management team. He told them that he intended to devote his assets to hospitals, research facilities, and to charities. The John D Rockefeller Foundation, which has provided countless millions of dollars to research development and health improvement across the globe for nearly a century, was thus started by a very sick man who realised that wealth, pleasure, and good health are cursory. Upon this realisation, Rockefeller relinquished his trust in wealth and renewed his faith in God Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth. But he also knew that money in itself is not evil and that great wealth can be used for great benefit to humanity.
Penicillin research
The Foundation had an early success in financing Howard Florey and Norman Heatley’s penicillin research in the 1930s and 1940s. Millions of lives have been saved thanks to penicillin and the development of other antibiotics.
A miraculous recovery
The amazing and unexpected result of Rockefeller’s divine revelation was that he began to recover almost immediately. As soon as he had made arrangements to redistribute his wealth, his body chemistry somehow miraculously changed, and he began to get well. His doctors were astounded! They expected him to die at the age of 53, but he recovered rapidly and outlived them all. John D Rockefeller died at the ripe old age of 98 years old. He had learned that gratitude and generosity are powerful emotions that God can use to change not just one life, but countless lives.
Before he died, he wrote in his diary:
“God taught me that everything belongs to Him, and I am merely a conduit to carry out His will. My life has been one long, happy holiday since then; full of work and play, I let go of my worries along the road, and God was wonderful to me every day.”
Mark 8:34-38
Then Jesus called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
Story by Ralph Burden
Photo attribution: Public Domain
