How Much Gold Do You Want??? The choice is yours...

For those of you who were there Saturday night at the gathering, this story will be a repeat. But for those who weren't, here it is...

There was once a king who ruled over a great kingdom. One day a seer told him, however, that a great tragedy was to befall the kingdom. The king asked if there was any way to prevent this. The seer replied that there was: he had to go to a beggar and beg to him for food during the special hours of a certain day.

The king found this to be slightly odd. Here was a great king who had only given to others, never asked. And of all people he had to go to a beggar to ask. But he cared greatly about his people and so even if it meant losing a little dignity, he was ready to do it.

So the king set out on the specific day looking for a beggar. Because his kingdom was so prosperous and virtuous, there were very few beggars. However finally he spotted on and told his charioteer to rush towards him. The beggar saw that the king's chariot was approaching and got excited. He knew that if he begged in front of the king, he would get a reward so great that he would neve have to beg again.

When the king stopped his chariot next to the beggar, he got down, took off his crown and kneeled in front of the beggar and asked him for food. The beggar was shocked but at the same time he knew that he had to give something. So he reached into his bag of rice and grabbed a fistful of rice. Then he thought to himself that this was the king and surely he must have plenty. So he clenched his hand a little tighter and let some rice fall from his fist. Even this seemed like too much. He clenched his hand a little tighter until only a few grains of rice remained. He gave these to the king.

Happy that he had avoided a tragedy, the king got on his chariot without saying anything and sped away to avoid further embarassment. The beggar, confused and perplexed by the whole event, went home and gave the food he had gathered that day to his wife. When his wife took the rice out to cook dinner, she noticed a few shining grains. She grabbed one and looked at it more closely. It was a piece of gold!

She called her husband and asked him where he got these pieces of gold from. Confused, he stopped to think about his odd day. Suddenly it hit him; every grain of rice that he had given to the king had become a grain of gold! He told the story to his wife and he regretted having only given the king so little.

The questions is what will you give? We are all given the chance to give something to God? How much of your time, your effort, your efficiency, your resources will you give?

Here is an inspiring video clip I was sent that shows this spirit of effort and giving...