The Emperor Has No Clothes!
“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” Revelation 3:17.
Once upon a time there was a very vain man who was the Emperor of a land far away.
He always dressed himself in the latest of fashions and prided himself with the clothes that he wore.
Then there came some swindlers who convinced the Emperor to wear a very fine quality of clothes that they had for him.
He couldn’t admit that he wasn’t the most elevated person around, and so he wore his clothes in the palace so everyone could see him.
Eventually the Emperor decided to have a parade and the Emperor chose to lead the way through the town so that all could see his new clothes that he was wearing.
Everything went along without much commotion until a little boy said, “But the Emperor has no clothes.”
Everyone around the Emperor had played in his charade except for a little boy who chose to be honest and to speak the truth.
The entire town had decided to keep their eyes closed and not see that the Emperor was actually naked.
How many of us have chosen to think that a certain person in our land wears the clothes of honesty and truthfulness.
And yet if you looked closer at those clothes you would see rather that they are the garb of arrogance and narcissism.
Children many times are the ones that will speak the truth about a given situation, and oftentimes they have intuitive eyes to see the true character of a person.
Unfortunately our world and in particular, our nation, is plagued with eyes that only see the Emperor as wearing clothes when in truth, he is naked.
I only pray that those of us who are adults will eventually gain the courage to speak as the young boy did.
Perhaps then nakedness would be replaced with better clothes — clothes that would be more fitting and suitable.
Perhaps then instead of arrogance and narcissism, the cloth would gleam of humility and grace.
Selah,
~ Stephen Hanson
Stephen Hanson of In His Truth Ministries came to the LORD is a special way in 1975 and has prophesied regularly since. In these end-time birthing pangs we are reminded that judgment must first begin with the household of God. Will we be prepared and ready?
Beautiful.