The upstate NY man was rich in
almost every way. His estate
was worth millions. He owned houses,
land, antiques and cattle.
But though on the outside he had it all,
he was very unhappy on the inside.
His wife was growing old,
and the couple was childless.
He had always wanted a little boy
to carry on the family legacy.

Miraculously, his wife became pregnant
in her later years, and
she gave birth to a little boy.
The boy was severely handicapped,
but the man loved him with his whole heart.
When the boy was five, his mom died.
The dad drew closer to his
special son. At age 13,
the boy's birth defects cost him
his life and the father died soon
after from a broken heart.

The estate was auctioned before
hundreds of bidders. The first
offered was a painting of the boy.
No one bid. They waited like
vultures for the riches. Finally,
the poor housemaid, who helped
raise the boy, offered $5 for the
picture and easily took the bid.

To every-one's shock,
the auctioneer ripped a hand written will
from the back of the picture.
This is what it said:

"To the person who thinks enough
of my son to buy this painting,
to this person Igive my entire estate."


The auction was over.
The greedy crowd walked away in shock
and dismay.

How many of us have sought after
what we thought were true riches only
to find out later that our Father was
prepared to give us His entire
estate if we had only
sought after His Son alone?

Author Unknown