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.
Food
For
Thought
What
are
you
holding
on to
from
your
life
before
knowing
Jesus?
Whatever
it is,
get
rid of
it!
God
will
give
you
everything
you
need
...
you
don't
need
to
rely
on the
world
to
satisfy
you
anymore!
Author
Unknown
to Me
