It is said that the great Emperor Ivan, of Russia, liked to go about disguised as a beggar, testing his people for signs of respect and dignity towards even the poorest of the poor.
One night he was wandering in the suburbs of his city, knocking on doors as a wandering tramp, just asking for a crust of bread. At one door after another he was refused, or chased turned away.
At last he came to a humble little cabin where a man was busy attending his wife and their newborn baby. he opened the door and invited the tramp in kindly, and treated him with courtesy. He offered a humble supper, and pointed him to a crude bed with a gracious good night.
The emperor Ivan, lay thinking instead of sleeping. In the morning, he left with a thank you.
Late in the afternoon his royal carriage came up to the door of the same cabin and stopped. The poor man was all alarmed and came to the gate, throwing himself at the feet of the emperor, begging to know how he had displeased him. He feared he would be taken away for some false crime.
The Emperor Ivan assured him that he had nothing to fear. "I have simply come to thank you for your good kindness last night. I came as a beggar to test your love and I come now as your king to reward you."
Then he gave the poor man a bag of gold for his newborn child, adding, "As he grows up I will adopt and sponsor him as my child, and will give him a place of high and honorable service in the empire. If I can be of any other service to you - command your emperor."
Do you realize that Jesus Christ does the same thing today? He is the King of all kings and emperors, but He goes about disguised as the poor and the ugly and the irregular people in your life. We all have someone like that in our home, our circle of acquaintances right now.
If you and I treat them well, with respect and dignity and kindness, a day will come when this King of kings, Jesus Himself, will come to reward you beyond your grandest imagination.
How many of these tests have we flunked so far this year? Let's watch for them, and try to do much better in the rest of the year ahead of us. It is always possible, as long as we have breath, to make a new and better choice.
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