Twice Loved!

I heard a story yesterday at MOMS that I just can't get out of my head. Its about a little boy that entered a store one afternoon and saw a little boat for sale. He immediately recognized the little boat because it was one that he had made himself but was recently lost at sea. He asked the store owner about the boat and he said someone had recently sold it to him. The little guy explained that he had carved and sanded the boat. He made it with his own two hands. He even pointed out some scratches he had accidentally caused. He asked if he could have the little boat back because it was the best thing he had ever made but, the owner refused. He told the boy that he had purchased the boat and if he wanted it back, he would have to pay for it. So, the little boy said he would come back very soon to buy back his boat. He went home and counted his pennies but he came up short. He did odd jobs and chores until he was able to save enough money to buy his prized possession back. Once he had enough, he went back to the small store and gave the owner the coins. As he carried his precious boat home he said, "little boat, you are twice mine, first I made you and now I've bought you. You are twice loved."

This story is the perfect example of God's love for us. We are twice His! First He created each of us. Psalm 139:13 says "you created my inmost being; you knitted me in my mother's womb." And then He purchased us with the precious blood of His one and only Son as expressed in 1 Corinthians 6:20 which says, "you were bought with a price."

Today I am thankful that our Heavenly Father loves us enough to have created each of us uniquely wonderful. Even though we all go astray, He loved us enough to come back for us and purchase us with the blood of Jesus! We are twice loved! We are twice His!