“Once
upon a time there was a king who ruled over everything in a land. One
day there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took it to his
king and said, “My lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve ever grown or
ever will grow; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my
love and respect for you.” The king was touched and discerned the man’s
heart, so as he turned to go, the king said, “Wait! You are clearly a
good steward of the earth. I want to give a plot of land to you freely
as a gift, so you can garden it all.” The gardener was amazed and
delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the
king’s court who overheard all this, and he said, “My! If that is what
you get for a carrot, what if you gave the king something better?” The
next day the nobleman came before the king, and he was leading a
handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My lord, I breed
horses, and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever bred or ever will;
therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect
for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said, “Thank you,” and
took the horse and simply dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed, so
the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot,
but you were giving yourself the horse.”
The gardener gave me the carrot, you gave yourself the horse…
The
king already owned everything in the land and the farmer out of
gratefulness gave to the king while the noblemen tried to barter with
him. God has already given us that which is most precious to him,
namely, himself. You
cannot barter with grace. Grace says, “you don’t deserve anything and
yet I am giving you everything.”
“He who did not spare he own son but gave him up for
us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things.” (Romans 8:32)
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