A double-claim on our lives …

Tom carried his new boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string. The little boat sailed atop the waters so smoothly! The boy sat in the warm sunshine, admiring the little boat he had built. Suddenly a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The little boat raced downstream.

Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast as he could. But his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon he searched for the boat. Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, Tom sadly went home.

A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see — sure enough — it was his!

Tom ran into the store and breathlessly approached the store manager, “Sir, that’s my boat in your window! I made it!”

“Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you’ll have to buy it for one dollar.”

Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. “Here’s the money for my boat!” As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, “Now you’re twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you!”

I love that story because it’s a great example of what Jesus Christ has done for us: First He made us, then He bought us with His own blood.

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see — such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him,” Colossians 1:15-16.

“For he has recused us from the kingdom of darkness us and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins,” Colossians 1:13-14.

“And they sang a new song with these words: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” Revelation 5:9.

Jesus Christ is our Creator and our Savior. Do you know and worship Him as both?

Scotty