[ecko_quote source="I Corinthians 1:8-10"]Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord [/ecko_quote]
There was an old Arabian story about the great King Shah Abbas. He was a wealthy king who found it fun to disguise and hang out with the poorest of the poor. After putting on thin rags, he approached an impoverished area of the city where most of his servants lived. He met with one of his poor servants, started a conversation with him and spent some time with him. After a while, the poor servant offered him his meagre lunch of bread and water. The King in his disguise continued to visit this poor servant and developed a deep friendship with him. Since this poor servant had no idea who Shah was, after a while, the great King Shah finally decided to reveal his identity to his servant. After explaining who he was and proving his true identity, King waited for the servant to ask him for something. He was ready to grant any request his friend had. But the servant sat and quietly gazed at the King with love and admiration.
Then King said to the servant "Are you not understanding all this?" I am the great King Shah Abbas, and I have the power to make you wealthy and noble. I can give you a city; I can appoint you as a great ruler. Don’t you want to ask me for something?
In response, the servant said "Yes, I understand, but you have already given me the most precious gift imaginable. You have left your glorious surroundings and have sat and fellowshipped with me all these months. You have cared about my worries; you have listened to my heart. You have shown me, true love. You gave me the precious gift of your presence. What else would I need from you. Similar occurence exists in the TV show - 'Undercover Boss', where the boss goes in disguise to see what his employees are up to. Most of the time, the bosses are so moved, they end up rewarding the workers greatly.
If we relate the story to our context, we can truly appreciate our Lord Jesus who left all of His heavenly glories and riches and came down to meet us. He fellowshipped with us and shown us our Heavenly Father’s great love towards us and exposed the lies of Satan. God’s greatest gift to humanity is His love and fellowship.
My dear ones, we too have the opportunity to give the precious gift of our presence to others. By spending time with them and listening to their problems, hurts, pain and by consoling them. There is nothing more precious of a gift than giving our time and having a fellowship with them. Therefore, visit our dear ones who are going through hard times, console them, and strengthen them with the Word of God. Surely I know we can make a great impact on their spiritual journey.
Whom can you give the gift of your presence this week? Whom can you simply listen to, spend time with, and demonstrate the love of Christ? Ponder upon these things.
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