The Prince of Thieves
Value: Selfishness
the most feared pirate of all the seas. He was so famous that everyone called him the
Prince of Thieves. Well, you know back in the old days, before we had our nice churches
and such, Christianity was protected by monks. Monks are people who live together all
alone in a far away place and pray and serve God. You usually see pictures of them in
long brown robes.
Brother Andrew was a little different from his fellow monks because he loved the out of
doors so much and the sea. He often camped on the beach not far from the monetary
where all the monks lived. But he did good things, keeping the beach clean and fishing
and farming which provided food for the other monks so it was God’s calling for him to
be on the beach. Especially the day the Prince of Thieves landed on those shores.
Captain Black spotted the island of the monks just ahead. He was pleased as he had his
entire fortune on board. It was an ingenious plan to hide his booty on the monk’s island,
as nobody would look for it there. He was the wealthiest pirate of them all and his men
were fiercely loyal to him. He gave the command to his men to prepare to land on the
island. He would let all of his men go to the beach in small boats, leaving his big pirate
ship in deep water. They would unload it tomorrow after they were rested.
Brother Andrew stood and looked into the setting sun. He saw the small boats making
their way toward his beach. But he did not panic. He added more vegetables to his stew
and more wood on his fire for the night.
“Ahoy Brother Andrew!” Captain Black called to his old friend.
“Blessings Brother Black!” The monk responded. Captain Black liked Brother Andrew
because he wasn’t afraid of him and always greeted him with blessings. Some of the
newer pirates were wary of the young monk but soon all accepted him because their
captain clearly trusted him. Moreover, what was amazing about it was that the monk
trusted the notorious pirate.
“Arrr, I thought Christian folk despised low lives like us pirates.” Scalawag Sam said to
Brother Andrew as the brother served him more stew. “I figured the good people of the
world thought we were better off not being in heaven.”
“Well Sam,” Brother Andrew answered smiling. “You have your prince of thieves but
the church has someone like Captain Blood but we call him the Prince of Peace. And he
came to earth to do all he can to make sure you and your friends all DO go to heaven. He
came to earth just for you and all your crimes and sins have already been forgiven by him
so you can meet him and start your journey to heaven anytime you want. See God loves
you just as much as he does me or the monks or any Christian in this world.”
“I never heard anyone say they loved me much less that God did.” The confused pirate
said moving off to sit on the beach and eat and think about what he heard that day. The
men all found places to bunk down for the night. But Brother Andrew and Captain Black
talked by the fire.
“You should come with us Brother Andrew.” The captain invited. The men all like you
and you would be the richest monk in the world.”
“I do not need riches. They would take too much time to watch and worry about.
Serving God is best done without riches.” He responded.
“I have all I need. I have the love and friendship of my heavenly father which will last an
eternity. I have the community of brothers, the love of the townspeople and even the
friendship of notorious pirates. I have the secret I know about the pirates that the world
does not know. I know that even ‘low lives’ as they call you are good men at heart, with
loyalty and friendship to give and hungry hearts to know more about God and His
Kingdom.”
“Ah you do have a secret and I’ll wager its one no one would believe from you. I must
make do with fabulous wealth that is more than a king could ask for and the devotion and
loyalty of my men.” Said the Captain toasting the monk who he considered one of his
closest friends.
Suddenly, on board the deserted ship, a lantern left burning in the weapons room feel
when its cord broke. The fire lit a small blaze that moved directly into the gunpowder
room.
The explosion on the horizon lit up the entire sea like daytime. Captain Black leapt to his
feet and all of his men were suddenly wide awake and yelling in panic as they watched
their ship go up in flames. There was another explosion and then another and with each,
the captain cried out like he was being struck with bullets Brother Andrew ran to his aid
and helped him to the ground as he and the pirates watched the ship and all of his wealth
sink to the bottom of the deep blue sea.
“My booty! My wealth! My gold! It’s all gone.” Captain Black moaned. He looked at
Brother Andrew who stayed close to his friend’s side knowing he must be going through
so much anguish. “Well, at least I have my loyal men. Together we can build again
and….” But when the captain looked up, the men were all gone. They had taken the
boats and were already on their way to find the next rich pirate captain to serve.
“It looks like your men were only loyal to your wealth. That is not true faithfulness.”
Brother Andrew observed.
“I need a treasure that cannot be sent to the bottom of the ocean Brother Andrew.” The
captain said to his friend. “And I need a crew that is faithful to me, not to my gold. But
is that possible?”
“Yes, there is a friend that is closer than any brother and will never leave you or forsake
you. His name is Jesus Christ and he is the Prince of Peace, the perfect savior for the
prince of thieves. I will take you to him and he will show you a wealth that is greater
than a thousand ships can carry. And it is a treasure that is kept for you in heaven, where
no fire, explosion or thieves can ever touch it because it is protected by God himself.”
The monk’s words put life inside of the old tired pirate and the thing nobody could expect
happened. Captain Black became Brother Black, the newest monk in the monetary.
From that day forward, there were two monks on the beach offering food, friendship and
the gospel to the dark pirates and many “low lives” came to know Christ because of
Brother Black and Brother Andrew. But never again did the notorious pirate Captain
Black sail the seas for that was the end of the Prince of Thieves.
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