A beggar lived near the king's palace. One day he

saw a proclamation posted outside the palace

gate. The king was giving a great dinner. Anyone

dressed in royal garments was invited to the party.

The beggar went on his way. He looked at the

rags he was wearing and sighed. Surely only

kings and their families wore royal robes,

he thought.

Slowly an idea crept into his mind. The audacity

 of it made him tremble. Would he dare? He made

his way back to the palace. He approached

the guard at the gate.

"Please, sire, I would like to speak to the king."

"Wait here," the guard replied.

In a few minutes, he was back. "His majesty

will see you," he said, and led the beggar in.

 "You wish to see me?" asked the king.

"Yes, your majesty. I want so much to attend

the banquet, but I have no royal robes to wear.

Please, sir, if I may be so bold, may I have one

of  your old garments so that I, too, may come

to the banquet?"

The beggar shook so hard that he could not see

the faint smile that was on the king's face. "You

have been wise in coming to me," the king said.

He called to his son, the young prince. "Take

this man to your room and array him in some

of your clothes."

The prince did as he was told and soon the beggar

was standing before a mirror, clothed in garments

that he had never dared hope for. You are

now eligible to attend the king's banquet

tomorrow night," said the prince. "But even

more important, you will never need any other

clothes. These garments will last forever."

The beggar dropped to his knees. "Oh, thank

you," he cried. But as he started to leave, he

 looked back at his pile of dirty rags on the floor.

He hesitated. What if the prince was wrong?

What if he would need his old clothes again.

Quickly he gathered them up.

The banquet was far greater than he had ever

imagined, but he could not enjoy himself as he

should. He  had made a small bundle of his old

rags and  it kept falling off his lap. The food

was passed  quickly and the beggar missed

some of the greatest delicacies.

Time proved that the prince was aright. The

clothes lasted forever. Still the poor beggar

grew fonder and fonder of his old rags.

As time passed people seemed to forget the

royal robes he was wearing. They saw only

the little bundle of filthy rags that he clung

to wherever he went. They even spoke of

him as the old man with the rags. One day

as he lay dying, the king visited him. The

beggar saw the sad look on the king's

 face when he looked at the small

bundle of rags by the bed.

Suddenly the beggar remembered the

prince's words and he realized that his

 bundle of rags had cost him a lifetime

 of true royalty. He wept bitterly at his

 folly, And the king wept with him.

We have been invited into a royal family--

the family of God. To feast at God's dinner

table, all we have to do is shed our old rags

and put on the "new clothes" of faith which

is provided by God's Son, Jesus Christ.

But we cannot hold onto our old rags.

When we put our faith in Christ, we must let

go of the sin in our life, and our old ways

of living. Those things must be discarded

 if we are to experience true royalty

and abundant life in Christ.

"Behold, the old is passed away; the

new has come!" (2 Corinthians
5:17).

Author Unknown