Sebuah toko hewan peliharaan (pet shop) memasang papan iklan yang menarik bagi anak-anak kecil, “dijual anak anjing”. Segera saja seorang anak lelaki datang, masuk ke dalam toko dan bertanya “Berapa harga anak anjing yang anda jual itu?”
Pemilik toko itu menjawab, “Harganya berkisar antara 30 – 50 Dollar.”
Anak lelaki itu lalu merogoh saku celananya dan mengeluarkan beberapa keping uang, “Aku hanya mempunyai 2,37 Dollar, bisakah aku melihat-lihat anak anjing yang anda jual itu?”
Pemilik toko itu tersenyum. Ia lalu bersiul memanggil anjing-anjingnya.
Tak lama dari kandang aning munculah anjingnya yang bernama Lady yang diikuti oleh lima ekor anak anjing. Mereka berlari-larian di sepanjang lorong toko. Tetapi, ada satu anak anjing yang tampak berlari tertinggal paling belakang.
Si anak lelaki itu menunjuk pada anak anjing yang paling terbelakang dan tampak cacat itu.
Tanyanya, “Kenapa dengan anak anjing itu?”
Pemilik toko menjelaskan bahwa ketika dilahirkan anak anjing itu mempunyai kelainan di pinggulnya, dan akan menderita cacat seumur hidupnya.
Anak lelaki itu tampak gembira dan berkata, “Aku beli anak anjing yang cacat itu.”
Pemilik toko itu menjawab, “Jangan, jangan beli anak anjing yang cacat itu. Tapi jika kau ingin memilikinya, aku akan berikan anak anjing itu padamu.”
Anak lelaki itu jadi kecewa. Ia menatap pemilik toko itu dan berkata, “Aku tak mau kau memberikan anak anjing itu cuma-cuma padaku. Meski cacat anak anjing itu tetap mempunyai harga yang sama sebagaimana anak anjing yang lain. Aku akan bayar penuh harga anak anjing itu. Saat ini aku hanya mempunyai 2,35 Dollar. Tetapi setiap hari akan akan mengangsur 0,5 Dollar sampai lunas harga anak anjing itu.”
Tetapi lelaki itu menolak, “Nak, kau jangan membeli anak anjing ini. Dia tidak bisa lari cepat. Dia tidak bisa melompat dan bermain sebagaimana anak anjing lainnya.”
Anak lelaki itu terdiam. Lalu ia melepas menarik ujung celana panjangnya.
Dari balik celana itu tampaklah sepasang kaki yang cacat.
Ia menatap pemilik toko itu dan berkata, “Tuan, aku pun tidak bisa berlari dengan cepat. Aku pun tidak bisa melompat-lompat dan bermain-main sebagaimana anak lelaki lain. Oleh karena itu aku tahu, bahwa anak anjing itu membutuhkan seseorang yang mau mengerti penderitaannya. “
Kini pemilik toko itu menggigit bibirnya. Air mata menetes dari sudut matanya.
Ia tersenyum dan berkata, ”Aku akan berdoa setiap hari agar anak-anak anjing ini mempunyai majikan sebaik engkau.”
Bahkan mereka yang cacat pun mempunyai nilai yang sama dengan mereka yang
normal…… ………
Dan sesungguhnya, seperti nyawamu pada hari ini berharga di mataku, demikianlah hendaknya nyawaku berharga di mata TUHAN, dan hendaknya Ia melepaskan aku dari segala kesusahan. (I Samuel 26:24)
Di negara bagian Florida, seorang atheis membuat sebuah tuntutan terhadap hari Raya Paskah dan Perjamuan yang akan dirayakan dalam waktu dekat. Atheis ini menyewa seorang pengacara untuk membawa masalah diskriminasi ini terhadap orang-orang Kristen, Yahudi dan semua yang berhubungan dengan hari rayanya.
Argumen yang disampaikan adalah sebuah hal yang tidak adil jika para atheis tidak memiliki hari libur yang diakui secara umum. Lalu kasus tersebut dibawa ke hadapan seorang hakim. Setelah mendengar penyajian yang penuh hasrat dari pengacara yang mewakili orang atheis ini, sang hakim mengetuk palunya dan menyatakan, “Kasus dibatalkan!”
Di saat yang sama, sang pengacara berdiri dan menyatakan keberatannya atas keputusan hakim tersebut dan berkata, “Yang mulia, Kenapa engkau membatalkan kasus ini? Orang Kristen memiliki Natal, Paskah dan lainnya. Para Yahudi memiliki Perjamuan, Yom Kippur dan Hanukkah, akan tetapi klien saya dan semua orang atheis tidak memiliki hari raya semacam itu.”
Sang hakim lalu mencondongkan badannya ke depan sembari tetap terduduk di kursinya dan berkata, “Sebenarnya kalian memiliki hari raya itu. Rekan pengacara, klien kamu itu sesungguhnya telah dengan bodohnya mengacuhkan…”
Sang pengacara berkata, “Yang mulia, kami tidak menyadari bahwa ada hari raya khusus bagi para atheis.”
Sang hakim berkata, “Di dalam kalender tertulis tanggal 1 April, yaitu April Fool Day…
Dituliskan dalam Mazmur 14:1, ‘Orang bebal berkata dalam hatinya: “Tidak ada Allah.”
Dan oleh karena itu, menurut pendapat pengadilan ini, dikarenakan klienmu itu berkata bahwa tidak ada Tuhan, oleh karena itu juga dia dinyatakan seorang yang bebal. Maka, tanggal 1 April adalah hari baginya. Pengadilan ini ditutup.
Kalian semua harus berbangga ada seorang hakim yang mengetahui Firman Tuhan!
Cerita ini terlalu sayang untuk disimpan sendiri. 
In Florida, an atheist created a case against the coming Easter and Passover holy days. He hired an attorney to bring a discrimination case against Christians, Jews and observances of their holidays.
The argument was that it was unfair that atheists had no such recognized days. The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the passionate presentation by the lawyer, the judge banged his gavel declaring, “Case dismissed!”
The lawyer immediately stood objecting to the ruling saying, “Your honor, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and others. The Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, yet my client and all other atheists have no such holidays.”
The judge leaned forward in his chair saying, “But you do. Your client, counsel, is woefully ignorant..”
The lawyer said, “Your Honor, we are unaware of any special observance or holiday for atheists.”
The judge said, “The calendar says April 1st is April Fools Day…
Psalm 14:1 states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’
Thus, it is the opinion of this court, that if your client says there is no God, then he is a fool. Therefore, April 1st is his day. Court is adjourned.
You got to love a Judge that knows his scripture!
This is too good not to forward.
A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art.
When the Vietnam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son.
About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, ‘Sir, you don’t know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day, and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you, and your love for art.’ The young man held out this package… ‘I know this isn’t much. I’m not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this.’
The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted by the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own eyes welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. ‘Oh, no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It’s a gift.’
The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected.
The man died a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase one for the collections.
On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel. ‘We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?’ There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, ‘We want to see the famous paintings. Skip this one!’ But the auctioneer persisted. ‘Will somebody bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200?’ Another voice angrily, ‘We didn’t come to see this painting. We came to see the Van Gogh’s, the Rembrandts. Get on with the Real bids!’
But still the auctioneer continued. ‘The son! The son! Who’ll take the son?’ Finally, a voice came from the very back of the room. It was the longtime gardener of the man and his son. ‘I’ll give $10 for the painting….’
Being a poor man, it was all he could afford.
‘We have $10, who will bid $20?’
‘Give it to him for $10. Let’s see the masterpieces.’
The crowd was becoming angry. They didn’t want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. ‘Going once, twice, SOLD for $10!’
A man sitting on the second row shouted, ‘Now let’s get on with the collection!’ The auctioneer laid down his gavel. ‘I’m sorry, the auction is over.’ ’What about the paintings?’ ’I am sorry. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything!’
God gave His son 2,000 years ago to die on the cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is: ‘The son, the son, who’ll take the son?’ Because, you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything.
FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, WHO SO EVER BELIEVETH, SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE…. THAT’ S LOVE!
