A Little Boy's Heart (Part 1)

Note: The following is a true story, which was related to me as a first-hand account. Certain key details have been changed for privacy's sake and some literary licence was taken. By coincidence, this is also quite similar to the story that the prophet Nathan tells David in 2 Samuel 12.

There once was a young boy that had just turned ten years old. His family lived on a successful farm, with plenty of land for crops and with numerous kinds of livestock. His family also had a rather large herd of sheep, which they raised and sold regularly at the market.

This particular summer, the young boy was sent to work for a neighbouring farm. It was intended to be a lesson in discipline and independance, away from the boy's own farm. The other farmer put him to work and taught him well. Each day the boy would work diligently, learning his trade and experiencing the differences in how the two farms were run. At the end of the long summer, the boy received his promised payment: One small lamb.

The boy was quite excited, as one might expect. He understood the value of this lamb and all of the hard work he had invested throughout the summer. The regular school term began again in September. As soon as school was done each day, the boy would run all the way home to his lamb. He would care for it and look for any injuries, making sure the lamb was comfortable in the pasture and was getting along with the other sheep. He would feed it with table scraps that he had saved from his previous meals and he went out of his way to ensure that his little lamb had the best feed available.

Granted, the boy was a farmer. He understood the difference between a pet and livestock. He fed his lamb well with the goal of making it plump and large, so that he could eventually sell it on the market. After all, this was his payment for his summer of tedious work. A weak and sickly lamb would not bring much money at all, and he would get no money at all if it died. Such is the life of a farmer.

After a number of months, the boy had proven his worth and the lamb had indeed grown to a good size and it was in great health. One day, the boy ran home to feed his sheep and it was not in the pasture. He looked into the adjacent pasture and it was not there, either. He ran along the entire length of the fence and checked for holes or gaps, because these sheep sometimes manage to escape. He checked the nearby river, he checked the barns, he even ran down the road in each direction for several kilometres and the sheep had simply disappeared.

He was not about to give up. As much as he didn't like the idea of admitting that he had lost his cherished lamb, he knew that he needed to speak to his dad and get his help. He would likely be punished for this, he knew, but his dad would know what to do. Maybe they could drive around to search for a while, or he could get his siblings to take a break from their chores to help.

With much trepidation, he approached his dad and explained his problem. His voice squawked a little as he spoke and his eyes were misty from tears. His dad was busy with the cows and he didn't even lift his head. His dad said yep, he knew that the sheep was gone. He had sold it that afternoon to somebody that was looking at the herd. That other farmer had insisted on this particular lamb and he paid well for it. The dad kept working away on the cow, explained that the money was good for the family. And besides, the boy could pick out another young sheep from the herd and he could have that one.

That was all that was said that day in the barn but the boy's story does not end there. See Part Two.