President's Official
A lowly shepherd because of his devotion and faithfulness to the king was suddenly promoted as one of the king’s high officials. His appointment caused quite some jealousy among some of the ministers and they made sure they made known their concerns to the king.
How could a simple shepherd be of a higher rank than them? The king heard them out and said “He is my most faithful and trustworthy servant and I have every confidence in him. But in order to satisfy your minds, watch him and his ways and if there is anything that is not right, let me know."
As they watched the official they noticed that once every week, he went into a room and locked himself in for an hour. They reported this to the king saying that the official was planning something evil against the king.
The king gave them permission to search the room and when they did, all they found was a parcel with old peasant clothes in the room. They took this to the king who summoned for his official to explain what this was all about.
The official answered and said, "Those are the shoes and that is the dress I used to wear when I was a shepherd. I open them out and look at them once a week lest I should forget what I once was and how unworthy I am of all the kindness and honour your majesty has bestowed upon me."
Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. We were all in the gutter filthy and smelly before the Lord picked us up washed us by His blood and clothed us in robes of righteousness. It was not because of what we had done, but rather because of what He had done for us.
Many times we forget where we have come from and we think it is all about us. We begin to look down on others who may not be as blessed as we are.
We forget that God washed us up so that we can serve others and instead we manipulate others so they can serve us because though we never really say it, we sometimes think we are better than they are.
Romans 12:3
"I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. "
May we take a lesson for the lowly shepherd who became the kings official. Once in a while may we look at the old shoes and the filthy clothes we used to wear to remind ourselves lest we forget who we once were and how unworthy we are of Gods kindness and grace and yet He still gave it to us.
A lowly shepherd because of his devotion and faithfulness to the king was suddenly promoted as one of the king’s high officials. His appointment caused quite some jealousy among some of the ministers and they made sure they made known their concerns to the king.
How could a simple shepherd be of a higher rank than them? The king heard them out and said “He is my most faithful and trustworthy servant and I have every confidence in him. But in order to satisfy your minds, watch him and his ways and if there is anything that is not right, let me know."
As they watched the official they noticed that once every week, he went into a room and locked himself in for an hour. They reported this to the king saying that the official was planning something evil against the king.
The king gave them permission to search the room and when they did, all they found was a parcel with old peasant clothes in the room. They took this to the king who summoned for his official to explain what this was all about.
The official answered and said, "Those are the shoes and that is the dress I used to wear when I was a shepherd. I open them out and look at them once a week lest I should forget what I once was and how unworthy I am of all the kindness and honour your majesty has bestowed upon me."
Use good sense and measure yourself by the amount of faith that God has given you. We were all in the gutter filthy and smelly before the Lord picked us up washed us by His blood and clothed us in robes of righteousness. It was not because of what we had done, but rather because of what He had done for us.
Many times we forget where we have come from and we think it is all about us. We begin to look down on others who may not be as blessed as we are.
We forget that God washed us up so that we can serve others and instead we manipulate others so they can serve us because though we never really say it, we sometimes think we are better than they are.
Romans 12:3
"I realize how kind God has been to me, and so I tell each of you not to think you are better than you really are. "
May we take a lesson for the lowly shepherd who became the kings official. Once in a while may we look at the old shoes and the filthy clothes we used to wear to remind ourselves lest we forget who we once were and how unworthy we are of Gods kindness and grace and yet He still gave it to us.
