The Beggar's Rags

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 in.

"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 that he had

never dared hope for. "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 as he should. 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 is

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!"
(2 Corinthians 5:17)

"Go now, leave your bonds of slavery. Put Babylon behind

you, with everything it represents, for it is unclean to you.

You are the Lord's holy people."

(Isaiah 52:11)

….Author unknown

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