The Two Kings

Enjoy the story!
Side Note: I put what I wrote on each page below each picture so that the story would be easier to read.   

Once upon a time, there were two kings, King World and King Love.  King World was a mean king; he wanted to do things HIS way.  King Love was a kind king who wanted to love others.

One day the first subject in King World's kingdom asked the king,
"Oh King, what shall I do with this cake? Should I eat it all myself or share it with others?"

"Eat it yourself, YOU deserve to have the WHOLE cake!" said King World

So...The King's first subject ate the whole cake. Yum! Yum!  It was so good!
 BUT...

As anyone knows, eating to much sweets makes your tummy HURT!
"OOOOhhhh!!!!" groaned the King's subject.  "I feel AWFUL!"
He wasn't the only one to feel awful; the other subjects of the kingdom were sad too because they had  had no cake.

Another subject went to King World for advice.
"Oh King," asked the second subject, "What shall I do with these apples? Keep them for myself or use them to feed the hungry?"

King World said, "Why you worked hard to grow that apple tree!  You shouldn't share them with the hungry.  Let the hungry work to find their own food!"

So...the second subject kept his apples, and boy, were they good to eat!!!
BUT...

Because he didn't share with the hungry, the hungry went away to find food in another place, and the subject had NO friends.  "I am lonely! Boo Hoo!"  cried the second subject!

One day another subject came to the King.
"Oh King World," said the third subject, "I really want this car that my friend has.  May I take it for myself?"

"Of course!" said King World, "Please take it!  Whatever your heart desires, TAKE!"

So...the third subject took the car from his friend.  VROOOM! VROOM!  The car was so much fun to play with.  The subject thought he would  be happy forever with his car.
BUT....

After playing with the car for awhile, the subject soon grew tired of it.  Plus there was an even bigger and better car out there that he wished he had.  And...it was also lonely for the subject.  For he had no friend to play with.

Everyone in King World's kingdom were unhappy.  It seemed that the King's advice made them happy at first, but now they were miserable.  I guess doing things for yourself is not much fun after all.  So all the subjects left King World's kingdom and went to look for another king to serve.  After searching high and low, they found.....

King Love!!!!
Once again the subjects went to the king for advice.
The first subject asked, "Oh King Love, what shall I do with this pie? Shall I eat it all myself or share it with others?"

King Love answered, "EVERYTHING in my kingdom is mine, but I share it all with my subjects. Please share for my sake."
So...the subject shared the pie.
AND...

There was no tummy ache this time!  The subjects enjoyed the pie.  More importantly, they felt so loved because the first subject chose to give his pie to them just like King Love had given everything to them.  Never had they felt so loved by their King!

The second subject loved to watch things grow, like his apple tree, but he really loved to watch King Love's flowers grow. One day the subject noticed two sad people in the kingdom.
The subject asked King Love, "Oh King, there are two sad people in your kingdom. Should I ignore them?"

"Oh no, not at all!" replied King Love, "My heart is for the hurting.  I want to cheer them up and let them know how loved they are by me. Why don't you pick some of my flowers and bring it to them.  Maybe that will bring them some comfort."
So...the subject picked the flowers and gave them to the hurt people.
AND...

Never had the hurt people felt so loved by their king.  The flowers served as a reminder that even in their pain, King Love cared and wanted to comfort them.

The third subject had seen how kind King Love had been with the pie and flowers.  He wanted to show the same kindness, but he was struggling.
"Oh King," said the subject, "I want to have that airplane toy so bad.  May I please take it for myself? I think it will make me happy."

King Love gently replied, "Dear subject, did the car you took make you happy?"

"Well," said the subject, "It did for awhile, but I soon grew tired of it."

"Dear one," said King Love, "It is not things like cars and planes that can make you happy, but ME.  My heart is to LOVE.  How do you think you can love this friend with his plane?"

"I can give him back his plane." said the subject
So....the subject did just that and gave the plane back to his friend.
AND...
His friend loved how King Love had helped the subject, so he decided to show kindness as well.  "Lets take turns and share the plane," he said.  So the two friends played with the plane, knowing that it

wasn't the plane that brought them joy, but rather knowing that their King loved them so much. For a plane cannot love a person, but a King can.
AND so...
Everyone in the kingdom was full of joy.  For making King Love the ruler of their hearts was just what they needed.  King Love was so kind, giving, and loving.

You see, King World is a bit like us.  It is about what WE want, and what we want is not necessarily always good for us. But King Love is a lot like Jesus. Jesus is kind,  giving, and loves us so much.  We are all hurting. Our hearts are hurt, but Jesus has a heart for the hurt, and cared so much that He died on the cross to bring healing to our hearts.

Who will you make your King?  YOURSELF? or JESUS?

Like the subjects in King World and King Love's kingdom, we have to choose which King we will serve.  Who will you listen to, yourself or Jesus?

I loved writing this book for my kids because it reflects the battle that mankind has fought since Adam and Eve.  A choice to either serve themselves or serve their creator.  So often humans choose to do things their way (King World's way) because they think it will give them more pleasure, but it often leads to more brokenness, pain, and heartache. Lying, anger, gossip, fornication, murder, jealousy, coveting, etc all result from something that has gone wrong deep inside of us, a desire to serve OURSELVES.   Thankfully, God has provided a way to rescue us from ourselves.  He gives us Jesus (King Love), our ultimate rescuer.  As I heard our pastor say one time, we are often times standing on train tracks about to get hit by at train, and another person comes along and pushes us off the tracks and takes our place.  Sin leads us to more brokenness, more heartache, and ultimately death....not just a physical death but a spiritual death...one that includes eternity without God.  Our sin will result in being hit by a train. Jesus is better because he took the punishment that we deserved and paid for it on the cross.  Jesus is our ultimate treasure, and ANYTHING that is good in this world comes only from Him.  We have this misconception that there is goodness in humans, but there is no good in us.  Romans 7:18 says, "or I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out."  The only good in this world comes from Jesus,  "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows." (James 1:17) It is my deepest prayer that you run to Him and make Him your king.  He is the only good thing worth serving. He showers us with continuous grace and love...there is no condemnation or shame because of Him. What a mighty King to serve!


Note to Parents:

Parents, 

I am sharing this so that you may have another resource and idea of how you can point your kids to Jesus. My boys personally had a blast making this book with me.  They got to glue the crowns in the pages, place stickers in the book, and color some pages.  As we were doing each page, it sparked their interest in the book, and they couldn't wait for me to read it to them when it was finished.  

It is now one of my oldest's favorite books.  It has sparked several discussions about the gospel. Even in moments of discipline or correction, I have lovingly referred my children to the characters in this book and encouraged them to choose Jesus' way.   

As Paul Tripp says, "Parenting is not a behavior-control mission; it is a heart-rescue mission." Many parents tend to focus on whether their child is behaving perfectly, doing well in sports, has a lot of friends, etc. Not that all these things are bad in themselves, but our greatest mission is to show them JESUS and allow the Holy Spirit to initiate lasting change. With the help of the Holy Spirit,  Jesus will use our children to bring Himself glory and to advance His Kingdom.  I hope this book will help fuel your calling as a parent.  I am cheering us all on.  Lets keep pointing our kids to Christ!!!

In Christ,

Katrina Arnold