Happiest Man In The Kingdom

"Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8 There is a story that I have shared twice in the past week when talking to people about the Gospel. I think it might be something God has put on my heart so I would like to share it with you all... Once Upon a time there was a powerful King, he had everything he could ever want servants, title, respect, power, riches, etc., but he was not happy. His “friends,” advisors, and servants did everything they could to cheer him up, but all in vain. On a particularly sad day the King decided he must be sick because he was always sad. He called all the Kingdom’s best doctors to come and heal him. One after the other these doctors tried and failed to heal the King. Finally, one doctor told the King that if he slept in the shirt of the happiest man in the kingdom he would himself be happy. The King sent his armies across the land to find the happiest man. They searched high and low. After months of searching they heard rumors of a man who was so happy that it was contagious, everyone who met him became happy. They finally found the man, who turned out to be a poor pig farmer. When they asked him for his shirt, he laughed, and told them he was too poor to own a shirt. When the King was told what happened, he was confused, and decided to go meet this poor man with no shirt. When the King arrived, the poor man welcomed him in and treated the King like family. The King had never been loved so unconditionally, and felt a happiness that went beyond words. The King returned to his palace a changed man. He began to cherish people and relationships more than everything else and the king and his subjects rejoiced. This story has been a great reminder that in this life we can be surrounded by people, we can have everything we need, and have the greatest titles and positions, but in the end what we really want and need is love and relationship. It does not matter if we have lots or little, if our priority and purpose is Love (God) 1 John 4:8, then we will have everything we need to be truly and contagiously joyful. I have been encouraged by God and friends to lean into God and relationships, so I pass that challenge on to you. Lean into the love of the Father and let that overflow into every dimension and relationship in your life. "Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things." Colossians 3:2