A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he saw a proclamation posted
outside the palace gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone dressed in
royal garments was invited to the party.
The beggar went on his way. He looked at the rags he was wearing and sighed.
Surely only kings and their families wore royal robes, he thought. Slowly an
idea crept into his mind. The audacity of it made him tremble. Would he dare?
He made his way back to the palace. He approached the guard at the gate.
"Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king."
"Wait here," the guard replied. In a few minutes, he was back. "His majesty will
see you," he said, and led the beggar into the palace.
"You wish to see me?" Asked the king.
"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend the banquet, but I have no royal
robes to wear. Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one of your old
garments so that I, too, may come to the banquet?"
The beggar shook so hard that he could not see the faint smile that was on the
king's face. "You have been wise in coming to me," the king said. He called to
his son, the young prince. "Take this man to your room and array him in some of
your clothes."
The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar was standing before a mirror,
clothed in garments for which he had never dared hope. You are now eligible to
attend the king's banquet tomorrow night," said the prince. "But even more
important, you will never need any other clothes. These garments will last
forever." The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank you," he cried.
But as he started to leave, he looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the
floor. He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong? What if he would need his old
clothes again. Quickly he gathered them up. The banquet was far greater than he
had ever imagined, but he could not enjoy himself. He had made a small bundle of
his old rags and it kept falling off his lap. The food was passed quickly and
the beggar missed some of the greatest delicacies.
Time proved that the prince was right. The clothes lasted forever. Still the
poor beggar grew fonder and fonder of his old rags. As time passed people seemed
to forget the royal robes he was wearing. They saw only the little bundle of
filthy rags that he clung to wherever he went. They even spoke of him as the old
man with the rags.
One day as he lay dying, the king visited him. The beggar saw the sad look on
the king's face when he looked at the small bundle of rags by the bed. Suddenly
the beggar remembered the prince's words and he realized that his bundle of rags
had cost him a lifetime of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his folly.
And the king wept with him.
We have been invited into a Royal Family, The Family of God. To feast at God's
Dinner Table, all we have to do is shed our old rags and put on the "New
Clothes" of faith, which are provided by God's Son, Jesus Christ.
But we cannot hold onto our old rags. When we put our faith in Christ, we must
let go of the sin in our life, and our old ways of living. Those things must be
discarded if we are to experience true royalty and abundant life in Christ.
"Behold, the old is passed away; the new has come!" (2nd Corinthians 5:17).
Author unknown. If anyone has a proprietary interest in this story please
authenticate and I will be happy to credit, or remove, as the circumstances
dictate.
Thanks to Bil Dorman
Chaplain@bdadvertising.com
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