Integrity

This is a good one. Read to the end and have a blessed week
>
> Matilda
>
>
>
>
> An aging king woke up one day to the realization that
> should he drop dead, there would be no male in the
> royal family to take his place.
>
> He was the last male in the royal family in a culture
> where only a male could succeed to the throne - and he
> was aging.
>
> He decided that if he could not give birth to a male,
> he would adopt a son who then could take his place but
> he insisted that such an adopted son must be
> extraordinary in every sense of the word.
>
> So he launched a competition in his kingdom, open to
> all boys, no matter what their background. Ten boys
> made it to the very top.
>
> There was little to separate these boys in terms of
> intelligence and physical attributes and capabilities.
>
>
> The king said to them, "I have one last test and
> whoever comes top will become my adopted son and heir
> to my throne." Then he said, "This kingdom depends
> solely on agriculture.
>
> So the king must know how to cultivate plants. So here
> is a seed of corn for each of you.
>
> Take it home and plant and nurture it for three weeks.
> At the end of three weeks, we shall see who has done
> the best job of cultivating the seed.
>
> That person will be my heir-apparent. "
>
> The boys took their seeds and hurried home. They each
> got a flower pot and planted the seed as soon as they
> got home.
>
> There was much excitement in the kingdom as the people
> waited with bated breath to see who was destined to be
> their next king.
>
> In one home, the boy and his parents were almost
> heartbroken when after days of intense care, the seed
> failed to sprout.
>
> He did not know what had gone wrong with his.
>
> He had selected the soil carefully, he had applied the
> right quantity and type of fertilizer, he had been
> very dutiful in watering it at the right intervals, he
> had even prayed over it day and night and yet his seed
> had turned out to be unproductive.
>
> Some of his friends advised him to go and buy a seed
> from the market and plant that.
>
> "After all," they said, "how can anyone tell one seed
> of corn from another?" But his parents who had always
> taught him the value of integrity reminded him that if
> the king wanted them to plant any corn, he would have
> asked them to go for their own seed. "If you take
> anything different from what the king gave you that
> would be dishonesty.
>
> Maybe we are not destined for the throne.
>
> If so, let it be but don't be found to have deceived
> the king," they told him...
>
> The d-day came and the boys returned to the palace
> each of them proudly exhibiting a very fine corn
> seedling.
>
> It was obvious that the other nine boys had had great
> success with their seeds.
>
> The king began making his way down the line of eager
> boys and asked each of them, "Is this what came out of
> the seed I gave you?" And each boy responded, "Yes,
> your majesty." And the king would nod and move down
> the line.
>
> The king finally got to the last boy in the line-up.
>
> The boy was shaking with fear. He knew that the king
> was going to have him thrown into prison for wasting
> his seed.
>
> "What did you do with the seed I gave you?" the king
> asked.
>
> "I planted it and cared for it diligently, your
> majesty, but alas it failed to sprout." the boy said
> tearfully as the crowd booed him.
>
> But the king raised his hands and signaled for
> silence. Then he said, "My people, behold your next
> king." The people were confused. "Why that one?" many
> asked.
>
> "How can he be the right choice?" The king took his
> place on his throne with the boy by his side and said,
> "I gave these boys boiled seeds. This test was not for
> cultivating corn.
>
> It was the test of character; a test of integrity. It
> was the ultimate test.
>
> If a king must have one quality, it must be that he
> should be above dishonesty.
>
> Only this boy passed the test. A boiled seed cannot
> sprout."
>
> We live in a society that has become obsessed with
> success and many show success at any cost. We say the
> end justifies the means. It is the tragedy of life.
>
> You see, failure often is an invitation to God to show
> that he is all-powerful and does not need help to make
> us great or to bless us.
>
> You know, sometimes God looks for people who will
> trust him completely no matter what so he could show
> the world that it is not by might or by power but by
> his spirit.
>
> God sometimes ordains failure.
>
> But many seek to circumvent divinely ordained failure
> by resorting to dubious means.
>
> When a civil servant builds a big house and sends his
> five children to expensive schools when he does not
> have a second source of income, is that not a case of
> a boiled seed sprouting?
>
> When a minister of state is able to sustain a lavish
> mistress and at the same time put up houses from his
> income as minister, is that not a case of a boiled
> seed coming to life?
>
> We should stop cheering rogues in WORLD!.
>
> I believe that we have all been given lives to lead
> according to God's plan and if we are living
> faithfully, we should all have different results.
>
> For instance, I believe that not all marriages are
> meant to have children.
>
> I believe that some women would stand before God with
> their children and God would say, "That's strange. I
> did not give you and your husband children so how did
> you get these?" I believe that not every student
> should make it to the university.
>
> So, many would stand before God with their
> certificates and God would say, "Now that is strange.
>
> How did you get to the university when I closed the
> door to the university to you?"
>
> I believe that not all people are supposed to marry.
>
> But there are those who would throw away their
> scruples just to get a spouse. Now before God's
> judgement throne, they would hear, "Now that is
> strange.
>
> You were to remain single to honour my name. So how
> did you get a spouse when I did not give you one?"
>
> The race is not for the swift and the
> battle is not for the strong. So how come, that in
> WORLD the swift wins the race and the strong the
> battle?
>
> It is because we are refusing to remain faithful to
> God and refusing to allow God to be God in all things
> and in our affairs.
>
> Boiled seed does not sprout.
>
> Next time you see a successful person, find out what
> kind of seed he was given and ask him, "how come your
> boiled seed has sprouted?"
>
> Interesting indeed!
>
>
> In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream
> always wins; not through strength, but through persistence.
>
>
>
>
>
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>
> This is a good one. Read to the end and have a blessed week
>
> Matilda
>