A boy was walking down a sidewalk in the park one day when he came across an elderly man with a clumpy block of wood and a small knife, which he was using to carve the piece of wood. The boy was determined not to pay any attention to the man as he passed him, but when he looked he couldn't help but stare at the ugly looking piece of wood.
The man noticed the boy and for a moment stopped his carving, "May I help you young man?"The boy had caught a little of what the man had said but not all of it, for he was staring at the piece of wood.
"What is it?"The boy asked in return.
The old man looked down at the figure and placed down his knife."It's a horse."The old man answered.
The boy's eyes grew in confusion for he thought it looked much more like a termite mound than a horse."No offense sir, but that doesn't look like a horse."The boy said.
The old man chuckled a bit."Are you a church going lad?"
The boy took his attention off the carving and placed it on the man, "Yes, sir."
"Do you understand what your pastor teaches?"The old man asked.
The boy thought about it for a moment."No Sir, not most times."
The old man patted the part of the bench next to him."Have a seat and I'll explain it to you."
The boy waited a moment before sitting down. The man held the carving in front of him to get the boy's attention."You don't look at this and see a horse do you?"
The boy shook his head."No sir."
The old man nodded."Well I do.Because I look at what time, work, and effort will do to this small piece of wood, just like God looks at us when we aren't born again.
Just like this piece of wood, we are small, ugly clumps of nothing, without God's help, but He sees us as whom we can be. What we can be is a beautiful carving, but it takes a lot of work, time, and effort to mold us into it.
A baby whale isn't born weighing however many tons a whale weighs, just like a man isn't born with a beard. If you had come along an hour ago this would have been an even uglier clump of wood and harder to imagine as a horse than it is now; but if I work hard it will be a magnificent piece of art.
God takes us and makes us a well done carving; when you're born again you aren't automatically an amazing carving; you are a clump of wood waiting to be crafted. You understand?"The old man finished speaking.
The boy just sat there staring at the clump of wood."Yeah, I think so."
The man nodded."Good. Now you had better run along or your parents might get worried."
The boy stood up and began walking along before turning around and looking at the clump of wood one more time."I still don't see a horse," the boy said.
The old man smiled a bit after he picked up his knife."You don't have to; you just have to know it's there."
The boy let a small smile appear on his face and he walked off.
