Parables were one of Jesus’s favourite means of teaching. Often defined as ‘an earthly story with a heavenly meaning’, parables dealt with familiar scenarios (a farmer sowing seed, a merchant buying a valuable jewel, a businessman with two sons), yet their very simplicity should not blind us to the pertinent and powerful messages they contain.
I believe everyday parables still abound – God catching our attention through ordinary scenarios which speak to our hearts in profound ways. Here’s an everyday parable involving a little girl and two horses.
Every Thursday when I take my granddaughter for her swimming lesson, we pass a field in which two horses live. Esther loves animals, so she often points to the horses and, with her limited vocabulary, tells me about the ‘horsey‘ and makes the ‘neigh’ sound associated with the horses. She was frequently disappointed when the horses were too far away to be stroked, so one day I suggested that we feed the horses an apple.
Since the horses are sometimes far away from the fence, we had to devise a way of getting the horses to come to us. I told Esther that if we called them and beckoned them with our hands, they would come and then we could give them the apple. She liked this idea so much that when we arrived, she cried ‘Horsey! Come!‘ in her loudest voice and beckoned them closer. To her utter delight, the horses set off at a gallop towards her, whinnying with pleasure. She squealed with glee, holding out the apple and giggling as their rough tongues consumed her offering in one mouthful. It was a win-win situation. The horses were happy to be fed; Esther was happy to feed them and stroke them.
This scenario continues every week (though now we take carrots as well as apples, since she longs for even more contact.) It is a very ordinary scenario. But in the eagerness of the horses and the squealing glee of a toddler, I see something of that relationship between God and His people, where He beckons us closer, where He calls us to come into His presence, where He invites us nearer, and we – once estranged but now accepted in the Beloved – run to meet Him. Esther delights to feed the horses (we now feed pretend carrots to plastic horses at home as well!); God delights to be with us. The horses are more than happy to stop their munching to come running towards the source of interesting food; we too are more than happy to have access to the King of Kings and to know we are welcomed into His open arms of love. There is mutual joy in both the Giver and Receiver. 