THE FARMER’S SON
(An ancient fable, origin unknown)
A farmer farmed on land that belonged to the king. From time to time he would send gifts to the king to show how well he was doing. One day he sent his son to take a calf to the king. The boy started off with the calf but the calf saw some green grass it wanted to eat. Soon it had wandered so far away that the boy could not catch him. When he told his father what happened his father said, “When you take a calf to the king, tie a rope around its neck and pull it behind you.”
Soon after that, the father gave his son a small bag of gold coins to take to the king. The boy carefully tied a rope around the bag and pulled it behind him. When he came to the castle he presented an empty bag. All the coins had fallen out of a big hole caused by dragging the bag along the bumpy road. The boy’s father later told him, “When you take coins to the king, place them in your cap and put the cap on your head.”
Later the boy was asked to take some fresh butter to the king. He immediately put the butter in his cap and put in on his head. When the warm sun came out and beat upon his head, the butter melted and ran down his cheeks. When he arrived back home his father told him, “To take butter to the king, my son, you put it in a large bowl filled with cool water and cover it with a towel.
When his father asked him to take a fine laying hen to the king, the boy remembered the instructions. He put the hen in a large bowl full of cool water and put a towel over it. When he got to the palace he presented the king with a drowned chicken.
I don’t remember the end of this story, but I often think of it when I counsel couples. People seeking help will diligently apply the right instruction in the wrong situation and then they can’t figure out why it didn’t work. Many also do this with the Word of God. They want to apply the instruction to their partner, rather than applying it to their own hearts so that the meaning of the instruction can be made clear to them for their circumstance. Good counsel is useless if it is not applied intelligently. Seek the Lord’s wisdom before you try to follow advice from another source.
Tina Green © 2006
