The King's Fool by H. A. Ironside
I have often told the story, and you have often heard it, of the king's fool. In the oldest days a king had in his court a jester. And this court jester was such an amusing comedian that on one occasion the king handed him a rod and said: "Look, I want you to take that. It is my scepter. I am giving it to you because you are the biggest fool I have ever seen in all my life. I want you to take that and if you ever find a bigger fool than yourself, give it to him." You remember the story, how years went by, and one day a messenger came to the poor fool to say to him, "The king is dying, and he would like to see you before he dies." And the poor fool got the rod and went to see his master. The master said, "Fool, I am going on a long journey, a journey from which I shall never return. I have called you here to say farewell to you." And the fool looked at him and said, "You are going on a long journey; I suppose then you have made inquiry about the place to which you are going and about the conditions that prevail there and that you have made proper preparation for it." "No," said the king, "I have been so busy I haven't had any opportunity or inclination to pay any attention to the life beyond the grave or to prepare for it. I am going on this long journey, but I don't know where I am going." The fool looked at him for a moment and then handed him the rod and said, "Take it. Take it. You gave this to me long ago, because you said I was the biggest fool you had ever known, and you told me to keep it until I found a bigger fool than myself. A man who is going on a journey from which he will never return and doesn't even take the trouble to find out anything about the place where he is going, who is indifferent to his future and the condition of his soul, is a bigger fool than I am, for I have given attention to these things. Take the rod!"
Who can be a greater fool than the man who thinks only of feathering his nest for time, of getting along in this poor world, and forgets the eternity that is yet to come?
From Divine Priorities and Other Messages by H. A. Ironside. New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, ©1945. Chapter 3.
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