Food for thought

[Emefa Akortor]

An aging king woke up one day to the realisation 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.



"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 signalled 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 deputy minister 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 Ghana.



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 bible says the race is not for the swift and the battle is not for
the strong. So how come, that in Ghana, 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.

credit:Joys Esther Dadzie (Mrs)