The Carrot and the King

Charles Spurgeon once told the story of the Carrot and the King to illustrate that left to ourselves no one seeks God for God but only for themselves.   It’s quite a sobering thought really… that outside of Christ we look to God only for what we need – the security, significance, comfort, joy, peace – we don’t look to God for God.

“Once upon a time there was a king who ruled over everything in a land. One day there was a gardener who grew an enormous carrot. He took it to his king and said, “My lord, this is the greatest carrot I’ve ever grown or ever will grow; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” The king was touched and discerned the man’s heart, so as he turned to go, the king said, “Wait! You are clearly a good steward of the earth. I want to give a plot of land to you freely as a gift, so you can garden it all.” The gardener was amazed and delighted and went home rejoicing. But there was a nobleman at the king’s court who overheard all this, and he said, “My! If that is what you get for a carrot, what if you gave the king something better?” The next day the nobleman came before the king, and he was leading a handsome black stallion. He bowed low and said, “My lord, I breed horses, and this is the greatest horse I’ve ever bred or ever will; therefore, I want to present it to you as a token of my love and respect for you.” But the king discerned his heart and said, “Thank you,” and took the horse and simply dismissed him. The nobleman was perplexed, so the king said, “Let me explain. That gardener was giving me the carrot, but you were giving yourself the horse.”

So the truth is that even when we do think we’re seeking God, serving Him, thanking Him, God easily just becomes  a means to an end, He just becomes another way of us meeting our needs.

But this belittles the work of Christ in whom we have been given all things (Rom. 8:32).  We don’t barter with God to get stuff because all we need has already been given to us through Jesus.  We can therefore seek and enjoy God for God.  He’s not an end He is the end!   We can give God the carrot/horse/whatever because we love Him, not looking for anything in return – for we have everything.