Seven year old Tommy had been asking his parents for a dog but they were not convinced that the family needed one. After Tommy’s repeated pleas, his dad told him if he would help his mother with chores around the house he could earn enough money to buy a dog. Tommy was more than eager to accept this challenge. He didn’t mind working if it meant that he could get a dog.
His parents took Tommy to a pet store in town to see what they had in the line of dogs. Near the rear of the store was a cage containing a beautiful black and white puppy. For Tommy and the puppy it was love at first sight. While Tommy was occupied visiting with the puppy that he was sure you would own, his dad was negotiating with the store owner regarding the price. Finally it was agreed that $100 was a fair price.
Now Tommy’s dad knew that his son’s earnings, plus his allowance, wasn’t up to that figure, so he wrote the owner a check for $90 with the provision that Tommy would be told that he had to come up with $10 if he wanted the puppy, which just happened to be the amount of money Tommy had amassed. Tommy eagerly counted out his ten dollars, paid the owner, and then waited with great eagerness as the proprietor opened the cage and handed him the puppy. Before the family had gotten back home, Tommy had already named his dog “Spots”.
For a couple of years whenever you saw Tommy, you saw Spots. One weekday morning, as was his custom, Tommy gave Spots a big hug before he left to catch the bus to school. What Tommy did not realize was that he failed to latch the gate. It did not take much of a wind to blow ajar the gate. Spots was out to explore the neighborhood.
When Tommy got home from school he immediately headed to the backyard to play with his much loved friend. But Spots was nowhere to be found. Tommy looked under every scrub and bush with no success. His mother joined the search but to no avail. She called their neighbors and nearby friends to see if Spots had been seen. None of them had, but one friend mentioned seeing a city animal control truck in the area that day.
Tommy’s mother called, and sure enough, Spots had been picked up and was being held in the dog pound. Mother and son left immediately to free Spots from his sad plight. When they arrived they found that Spots had already been put in a small cage. Tommy asked the attendant if he could have his dog back. The attendant replied that he could but he had to pay a $25 fine for Spots running loose. Tommy’s mother reminded him that his carelessness had caused this problem but that she would loan him the money and he could, once again, do some chores around the house to repay the loan. Tommy agreed and paid the fine, then anxiously waited until Spots was brought out to him.
Soon Spots and Tommy were reunited. On the way back home, Tommy hugged Spots real tight and told him he loved him. Then he said, “I bought you when you were a puppy, and now I have bought you out of the pound. Spots, you are my dog two times over!”
Redemption is the act of buying back. Man is God’s by creation but when sin entered the human race that relationship was broken. When Christ died for our sins, and we claimed His sacrifice, we were bought by His blood and born again into the kingdom of God. Thus we are God’s property twice-over. First by creation and later by regeneration!