There is an old legend about a king who longed for a son. Finally, to the joy of the king and the celebration of the palace a baby boy was born. But the infant to the Doctors dismay was born partially paralyzed. Years went by but the young boy remained in a wheel chair. The disappointed king ordered his sculptor to make a statue of a strong, virile man and to place that statue in the middle of the courtyard. When it was finished the boy was wheeled out to the statue and he was told that the statue was the image of the man that his father hoped he would become one day. The little prince straightened himself a little in the chair. Everyday he was wheeled by that statue and every day he would try to straighten himself a little more. Until the legend says, one day, he pushed himself up from the wheel chair and on wobbly legs stood looking at that statue determined to be the man his father wanted him to be. Finally in his early 20’s that prince walked on strong legs, confidently across that palace courtyard, stood beneath the statue, looked up and saw a perfect likeness of himself.
Now, God has set the image of Jesus Christ in front of us as a model of what he wants us to become one day. And even though we have been partially paralyzed by sin, if we look to Him daily and straighten ourselves a little. Day by day we’ll grow and one day we may reflect His image to others