A young teenage youth spent many hours building a little sailboat, crafting it down to the finest detail. He then took it to a nearby river to sail it. When he put it in the water, however, it moved away from him very quickly. Though he chased it along the bank, he couldn’t keep up with it. The strong wind and current carried the boat away. The heartbroken youth knew how hard he would have to work to build another sailboat.
Farther down the river, a man found the little boat, took it to town, and sold it to a shopkeeper. Later that day, as the youth was walking through town, he noticed the boat in a store window.
Entering the store, he told the owner that the boat belonged to him. It had his own little marks on it, but he couldn’t prove to the shopkeeper that the boat was his.
The man told him the only way he could get the boat was to buy it. The youth wanted it back so badly that he did exactly that.
As he took the boat from the hand of the shopkeeper, he looked at it and said, “Little boat, you’re twice mine. I made you and I bought you.”
In the same way, we belong twice to Someone. He both created us and paid a great price for us. With the blood of His Son, we have been redeemed and reunited with Him. His Son gave His life to get us back.
Edited from Hot Illustrations for Youth Talks by Wayne Rice. Copyright 1994 by Youth Specialties, Inc.
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