This blog post is taken from my book Golden Nuggets, and I originally heard the story while listening to a sermon from Chuck Swindoll.
The story goes like this…
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Walter who was hired by the largest corporation in the world.
Walter was told that he had to begin at the bottom and work his way up the corporate ladder… so Walter began working in the mailroom, serving everybody.
One day as Walter was sorting mail, he spotted a cockroach and went over to step on it, but before he was able to crush it,
He heard a voice crying out, “Don’t kill me. I’m Milton the cockroach, and if you spare my life, then I’ll grant you all of your wishes.”
Of course, Walter let Milton to live, and Walter asked to become the president and CEO of the company.
Walter became the president and CEO, and he’d often gaze out of his office on the top floor of the world’s tallest building and think to himself,
“I’m on top of the world, and no one is more important than me.”
Then, one day Walter heard footsteps on the roof and he went up and discovered a little boy on his knees, praying.
He said to him, “Are you praying to Walter?” and the little boy said, “No, I’m praying to Jesus. He’s the King of Kings.”
Of course, this disturbed Walter, so he went back down to his office and he summoned Milton the cockroach and he said to him, “I have another wish. I want to be like Jesus.”
So Milton granted Walter’s wish, and immediately, Walter was back in the mailroom serving everybody.
As I heard this story, my mind immediately thought of Mark 10:45, which says that the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.
And my final thought for this blog post is that your greatness is not measured by the number of servants you have; it’s measured by the number of people you serve.
