When Zacchaeus got saved he started giving.  He said, “I give half of what I own to the poor and if I’ve cheated anyone I’ll pay them back four times what I took!”  Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

  I don’t know if Leonard Abess is a Christian, but he is certainly acting like one!  Consider the following…

  Some employers get paid huge salaries and have “golden parachutes” for their retirement, but  could care less what happens to their employees.  Madoff… Enron Executives… or maybe someone you work for are examples.  But ever so often a person comes along who breaks the mold.  That is exactly what Mr. Abess did.

He took money from his own pocket and gave it to his employees to the tune of $60 MILLION!  Below is an excerpt from the article or you can Click here to read all of it.  Emphasis below is mine.

After selling a majority stake in Miami-based City National Bancshares last November, all he did was take $60 million of the proceeds — $60 million out of his own pocket — and hand it to his tellers, bookkeepers, clerks, everyone on the payroll. All 399 workers on the staff received bonuses, and he even tracked down 72 former employees so they could share in the windfall.

For longtime employees, the bonus — based on years of service — amounted to tens of thousands of dollars, and in some cases, more than $100,000.

At a time when financial titans are being paraded before Congress to explain how they blew billions on executives’ bonuses even as they received a taxpayer bailout, the big-hearted banker’s selfless deed stands out.

”I retired seven years ago, and all of a sudden I get this wonderful letter and phone call,” said Evelyn J. Budde, who spent 43 years at City National Bank of Florida, rising to vice president.

”I was shocked,” said William Perry. In 43 ½ years at City National, he climbed from janitor to vice president. Like many longtime City National employees, he forged an unbreakable bond with the bank that continued into retirement. Perry returns regularly for the annual employees’ dinner.

Abess didn’t publicize what he had done. He didn’t even show up at the bank to bask in his employees’ gratitude on the day the bonus envelopes were distributed. He was inundated with letters soon afterward.

Asked later what motivated him, Abess said he had long dreamed of a way to reward employees. He had been thinking of creating an employee stock option plan before he decided to sell the bank.

”Those people who joined me and stayed with me at the bank with no promise of equity — I always thought some day I’m going to surprise them,” he said. “I sure as heck don’t need [the money].”

Mr. Abess supports Jewish charities, but he is sure acting like blievers in Christ should act!  I wonder what would happen if all of us who claim Christ as our savior were as willing to bless others with what God has blessed us with?

By the way… this post does apply to all of us… writer included.