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.

"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

"Behold, the old is passed away;
 the new has come!"
2 Corinthians 5:17

"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn from me, for I am gentle
and humble in heart, and you will find
rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy
and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30

 

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