I found the following story in Max Lucado’s book, The Gift:
A boy went into a pet shop, looking for a puppy. The store owner showed him a litter in a box. The boy looked at the puppies. He picked each one up, examined it, and put it back in the box.
After several minutes, he walked back to the owner and said, “I picked one out. How much will it cost?”
The man gave him the price, and the boy promised to be back in a few days with the money. “Don’t take too long,” the owner cautioned. “Puppies like these sell quickly.”
The boy turned and smiled knowingly. “I’m not worried,” he said. “Mine will still be here.”
The boy went to work – weeding, washing windows, cleaning yards. He worked hard and saved his money. When he had enough for the puppy, he returned to the store.
He walked up to the counter and laid down a pocketful of wadded bills. The store owner sorted and counted the cash. After verifying the amount, he smiled at the boy and said, “All right, son, you can go get your puppy.”
The boy reached into the back of the box, pulled out a skinny dog with a limp leg, and started to leave.
The owner stopped him.
“Don’t take that puppy,” he objected. “He’s crippled. He can’t play. He’ll never run with you. He can’t fetch. Get one of the healthy pups.”
“No, thank you, sir,” the boy replied. “This is exactly the kind of dog I’ve been looking for.”
As the boy turned to leave, the store owner started to speak but remained silent. Suddenly he understood. For extending from the bottom of the boy’s trousers was a brace – a brace for his crippled leg.
Why did the boy want the dog? Because he knew how it felt.
In Philippians 2:7 Paul describes Jesus Christ with these words, “When the time came, He set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, and became human!” (The Message)
He became tired and went hungry. He learned how it felt to face the unfulfilled expectations of others. He experienced incredible time pressures, only three years to complete His life work. He knew the pain of loosing a parent prematurely and being rejected by members of His own family. He was forsaken by friends when public opinion turned against Him. He was unjustly tried and sentenced to the cruelest of deaths, on a cross.
WHY? Only one of the many reasons is so that He could be Someone Who could hear our hurt, feel our pain, and pay the price, like the boy in the story, so we could be His own. Like that puppy who became the object of his master’s affection, we too can experience the wonder of Christ’s love, but only if we will let Him buy us.
Unlike the puppy, it’s our choice to limp away into eternity, alone, without a Master Who would care for us and take us home with Him!
