For I say to you, that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Luke 19.26

There was once a young man who received a task from the king. He was asked to bring a message and some diamonds to another king, in a distant land.

He was also given the best horse in the kingdom to take on this journey.

“Take care of what is most important and you will complete the mission!” – said the sovereign as he was leaving.

The young man prepared his bag, hid the message in the hem of his pants and put the precious stones in a leather pouch that was tied around his waist, under his coat.

Very early in the morning, he disappeared into the horizon. The thought of failing never even crossed his mind. He wanted the entire kingdom to know that he was a noble and brave young man, ready to marry the princess.

Actually, this was his dream, and it seemed like the princess had the same hopes. To quickly fulfill his task, he would ride off the main road sometimes and take shortcuts, which took a great toll on the horse.

This required a lot from the animal. Whenever he stopped at an inn, he would leave the horse outside, unsheltered. He never removed the saddle or his load, nor did he ever bother to give him a drink or provide some feed.
– Young man, if you continue to do this, you’re going to lose this animal – someone said.
– I don’t care – he said. I have money. If this one dies, I’ll buy another one. I don’t need him!

As the days passed, the poor animal couldn’t take the mistreatments any longer and dropped dead in the middle of the road.

The young man simply cursed him and continued his journey on foot. It happens that there were very few farms in this part of the country and they were distanced far apart from one another. A couple of hours later, he realized how much he really did need the animal. He was exhausted and thirsty.

He left all of his baggage behind, except for the diamonds, because he remembered the king’s advice: “Take care of what’s most important!”

His steps became short and slow. His stops were frequent and long. Since he knew that he could fall at any moment and feared being robbed, he hid the precious stones in the heel of his boot.

Later, overcome with exhaustion, he fell onto the dusty road and lay there unconscious. Luckily for him, a caravan of merchants who were heading to his kingdom, picked him up and cared for him.

When he regained consciousness, he found himself back in his homeland. Immediately, he went to the king to tell him what happened and, with the greatest impudence, put all the blame of his failure on the “weak and sickly” horse he had been given.

– But, your majesty, as you recommended, “take care of what’s most important”, here are the diamond you entrusted me. I am returning them to you. I didn’t lose a single one.

The king took them from his hands with grief and sent him away, showing complete disregard for his excuses. Disappointed, the young man left the palace feeling devastated!

At home, while taking off his dirty clothes, he found the king’s letter in the hem of his pants, which read:

“To my brother, king of the North country. The young man I’m sending is a candidate to take my daughter’s hand in marriage. This journey is a test. I gave him some diamonds and a good horse. I recommended that he take care of what’s most important. Please do me a great favor and check how the horse is doing. If the animal is strong and looks well, I will know that this young man appreciates the loyalty and strength of the person who assists him during his journey. If, however, he loses the animal but saves the diamonds, he will not be a good husband or king, because he will only have eyes only for the treasures of the kingdom and will not care about the queen or those who serve him.”

(Unknown author)

God is counting on you and so am I.