Thursday, March 14, 2013

A Parable of Cows


Somewhere deep in Africa there is a village tradition to determine the value of a prospective bride. When a father deems his daughter old enough to be married he announces it to the village.  Over the next week, young men show their desire to marry the girl by tying cows to the father's fence.  The one who ties the most cows to the fence marries the girl.

Of course the more desirable the prospective bride, the more cows a young man offers.  Usually the price for a bride is 2 or 3 cows, but once a young man actually offered 6 cows for a bride - it was a record!

One young man insisted he would marry only when he found an 8-cow wife.  His parents thought he was foolish and would remain unmarried.  There just weren't any brides that valuable.  Yet the young man continued to search, even going to far-off villages.

Finally he sent word home to his family, "I am married.  Found an 8-cow wife in the Village of Honto!"

His parents were puzzled and so were the rest of his village.  They knew all the young women in that village and none were worth 8 cows.

When the young man arrived back home with his new bride, they all wanted to know how he had found an 8-cow bride.

"It was simple", he said.  "I found a bride and then I paid 8 cows for her."

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold
that you were bought...but with the precious blood of Christ..."
1Peter1:18, 19

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