Parable of the lost toy

A day before I was headed away from home for a week-long trip, I decided to take the boys out with me to pick up a few things my wife would need while I was away.  Printer ink, electricity (in Asia we prepay) and a killer anniversary present were on the list for the day.

After we got what we needed, the boys were exhausted.  We spotted a nearby McD's (don't judge me) and we popped in for a happy meal.

The happy meal toy is what brought the greatest joy to the kids.  I had to bribe them with it just to get them to eat a bite of their burger.  Then, after a wait that must have felt like eternity for them, I gave them their prize.

It was a transformer of some sort.  Honestly I didn't really care what it was.  Most of these toys never even make it home before my boys destroy them.  But they loved it.  I gathered them into our car, and started the trek home.

I pulled up to a red light at the largest intersection in our part of town and put the car in park.  At this intersection, it could be upwards to ten or more minutes before you make it through.

Suddenly I hear Liam scream out, "Oh no!  Daddy my toy!"

I looked back to see him sticking his finger out of the window.  "My toy flew out of the window!"

Sure enough.  The toy had some sort of ability to shoot a blue spear-like devise out of it's arm.  Liam shot the spear out his window toward the car next to us.

"Get it Daddy!"

"I can't!  The light is green and we have to go."

"No! My toy!"

"It's ok Liam, let it go."

As I passed through the intersection, Liam burst out in tears saying over and over again, "I'm so sad!  My toy is lost!"

It was painful to see him so sad.  Nothing else mattered to him.  All he wanted was his toy to be back with him again.

We got home shortly after and he was still bawling.  I had no idea how to calm him down, so I told him,  "I'll go look for your toy."

I jumped on my bike and rushed back to the intersection, putting myself in danger along the way.  I had to wait for a red light so I could weave in and out of every stopped car.  Once the timing was right, I swooped in and found the blue spear thing.  

When I went down to pick it up I saw a few people look strangely at me.  They must have been wondering, "why would you do all this for a piece of trash on the ground?"  To them it was nothing, to Liam, it was everything.

When I gave it to Liam, he noticed that it was dirty and a little bent from being run over a few times.  But it didn't lose any value to him, he was as happy as I've ever seen him.

I looked at that little blue spear and thought, "it really is amazing that Jesus sacrificed everything and came to rescue what the world would have left to be destroyed."

I often feel like a little blue spear thing.  "Who am I exactly?"  "What are the things I'm built to do?"  Regardless of the answer the most overwhelming truth is that God felt the same way Liam did while we were lost to him.  I can almost imagine his tears and screams saying, "I'm so sad!"

I'm so glad he came back and picked me up off of that dirty, purposeless road.