The Wicked King and His Slave

A wicked king whipped a hardened criminal, and few took notice of his action. However, when the king whipped his righteous slave for a trivial matter, all who witnessed it marked the injustice and remembered it in their hearts.

A few years passed, and the people, tired of his tyranny, rose up and overthrew the king, placing him into prison. Remembering the good slave, they went to him and made him a duke of a land.

Later, these same men saw the new duke, who had once been a slave himself, whipping one of his own slaves over a minor fault, they immediately seized him, threw him into chains, and put him in the deepest and darkest of prisons.

“Why did you do this to me?” he asked.

“Because we saw you when you were oppressed, and we freed you. Here you are doing the same thing that your wicked master was doing.”

“But this was only one act of injustice. My master was far more cruel than I have ever been.”

“But you lived under his tyranny,” they told him. “You above all others should have understood the mercy that was shown to you. And you should have sought to show mercy to others every day of your life. But because you ignored the gift you received, and chose to use your new power to repress your former brothers, you will be treated worse than the tyrant.”

So the Lord has given you a gift of salvation from the wickedness of your former life. But if you choose to use this gift as a seat from which to judge others and cause others pain, then not only will salvation be stripped from you, but you will be treated worse than if you had lived every day in wickedness, never having known salvation in the first place.

The Two Fields of Corn

Two farmers had fields next to one another, both full of corn stalks.

One farmer feared that his stalks of corn would be broken if the local children played in his field, so he took great measures to frighten them and yell at them so that they stayed away from his land.

The other farmer enjoyed watching the children play, so he encouraged them to play amongst his corn, even though they would sometimes break a stalk or two.

When it came time to harvest, the farmer who had frightened the children away found that most of his crop had been picked clean by crows and by vermin.

The farmer who had encouraged the children to play in his field, however, had a beautiful crop. The playing children had frightened all the birds and rats away. With nowhere else to go, they had gone into the other farmer’s field.

The farmer who befriended the children was doubly blessed, because of the great crop he reaped, as well as for the many hours he had been granted watching the children at play.

He who shuns the Lord’s children shall be cursed, while he who invites them in shall be doubly blessed.

The Parable of the Beautiful Song

Three men were sitting together listening to some music. Suddenly, the most beautiful song they had ever heard began to play.

The first man thought, “This song is so gorgeous, it reminds me of the love I have for my wife.” So he got up and went home to see her.

The second man thought, “This song is so lovely, it reminds me of the love I have for my children.” So he got up at once and went off to see them.

The third man thought, “This song is so glorious, it reminds me of the love God has for me.” So he got up at once and set off to share it with anyone who would listen.

The Parable of the Two Brothers

A father had two sons. To the older, he said, “God is everywhere and nowhere. He is without form, and yet He is in everything.” And his eldest son believed him. To the younger son, he said, “God lives and dwells in this house. That way He is near to us always,” and the younger son believed him.

When the boys had grown to be men, the older said to the younger, “We should move from this place, for there are many other places out there to explore.”

“No,” the younger said, “God lives in this house. We cannot move from here.”

“God does not dwell only here, you fool,” the older brother said. “God is all around us. He is not confined to a building.”

So the younger went to his father and asked, “Father, is God in our house?”

“Yes,” his father answered. Satisfied, the young man went back and told his brother what their father had said.

Then the elder brother went to their father and said, “Father, I thought God was not limited to just a house, but that He lived everywhere.”

“What you say is correct,” his father told him. Satisfied, he went back and told his younger brother what their father had said.

And so the two brothers hated each other, though they both worshipped God faithfully. They warred with one another, as did their children, and all their descendants to this day.

Does God call people to start a blog?

As a Christian, I feel that God can and does talk to people. Not necessarily the voice of God coming down from on high to tell us what we should and shouldn't do. He hasn't spoken to humans that way since His son was baptized. However, God does put things in front of us several times until we finally realize that He wants us to do something.

So a few months ago as I was sitting in church a thought popped into my head which I thought was interesting. I mulled it around for a second and then I promptly began to forget it. But strangely, I couldn't forget it. I actually tried. And I kept getting the feeling that I needed to write it down and save it.

Despite this fact, I still tried to forget it and I refused to write it down, until it finally occurred to me that it was beyond my control. I had to write it down or it would end up driving me crazy. So I did.

Then it happened again. And again. And again.

It wasn't always at church. Sometimes it was as I was lying in bed, or when I was at work, or when I was just trying to spend some time with my son. So I have compiled a set of what I can only describe as New Parables to share. I don't have enough to start writing a book. But I do have enough to start writing a blog. So my next post, which I will do in just a few minutes is the first of these parables...the one that was driving me crazy.

I don't know who will read this, if anyone. But for the past month I have felt compelled to start this blog, and in my typical stubborn way I have tried to ignore this sensation. But the word of the Lord cannot be ignored. So I guess what I am saying is that I feel God has called me to start a blog (which looks crazy to me as I type it out!). But God also called 11 men to go to countries they weren't familiar with and to start talking with complete strangers...and to die for His word.

So who am I to complain? I just have to type something into a computer.