Beware of the praise of men

but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, for fear that they would be put out of the synagogue. For they loved praise from men more than praise from God. John 12:42 -43

A story is told of a wise King, many years ago who wanted to marry off his beautiful daughter. The practice of the day was that the King would call the strongest warriors and the smartest law makers in the kingdom, and challenge them to answer riddles and compete in sporting events. To earn the privilege to marry his daughter.

This particular King opted to design a competition that would filter out fake suitors

He developed a running course down a hill for 10 kms, on one side of the course he put cheerleaders, musicians and the royal band and gave them the task of cheering, praising and encouraging the runners.. On the other side of the road he placed prisoners, criminals and slaves to insult discourage and hate on the runners.

To make it even more challenging the King added a twist; the competitors had to carry a bucket full of water to the brim. The rule was, if the runner poured even a drop he would be removed from the competition.

On the day of the race many valiant and wise men from across the kingdom tried their luck, and one by one they failed. The King’s strategy seemed to work, in fact it was very easy. Whenever the runner would run near the edge of the road where the cheering side was he would bask on the praise and glory of men and develop over confidence and pride. By believing this unproductive complements, the runner quickly lost focus fumbled and tripped.

On the flip side some runners would gravitate towards the haters, the insults, false accusations and continues discouragement would have the same effect, the runner would lose focus and trip. This continued until the day a wise warrior entered the race, witha a simple strategy. He put on ear plugs and decided to run in the middle of the road, and to not look to the right or the left. This way he was able to focus and finish the race.

The moral of the story is that in life (especially in the age of social media) we can easily leave for the praises of others and change the course of our lives based on unrealistic flattery. Worse still is that this flattery becomes our identity and when it stops and the cheerleader becomes the hater..it breaks who we are. On the flip side many have also changed the course of their lives because of listening to false, accusing reports.

There are many voices in this world. The only one that is true and tested is the voice of God..What has he told you about your destiny. Will you believe Him, keep you head down, stay in the middle of the road, focus and fulfill your destiny.