This is the story of a wealthy, successful, caring man and his love for his only son. This was a powerful man—he was on the board of directors of many large corporations all over the world. He owned many large and beautiful homes in many countries. Yet, the man’s most outstanding quality was his love and devotion to his son.
This love and devotion were never more evident than during his son’s long battle with a severe illness. The man arranged for the best doctors, nurses, and care for his son, but despite all these efforts, the son could not overcome the illness and died.
Although the father was full of sorrow, he continued to live a happy, active, Christian life. He could rejoice in knowing his son was with the Lord.
The house where his son had lived was large and beautiful—like a mansion. It had costly furnishings. After the son’s death, the father left the house just as before the boy died. Nothing was changed.
Years later, the father also died. His lawyers were faced with the problem of settling the man’s estate. The man had kept accurate records of all his accounts. It appeared he had taken care of every detail, large and small. The man had left written instructions for the lawyers to follow. He had thought of everything. But there was one problem—there was no will. This puzzled the lawyers because the man had been so complete and precise in his instructions. How could he forget the will? The lawyers decided to simply follow the written instructions one step at a time.
Step one was to sell all the furnishings in the son’s house. Everything was to be put up for sale in an auction that was to be run by a famous auctioneer that was specifically chosen by the father. Arrangements were made for the auction. It was heavily advertised and people came from all over to bid on the items.
Among the people attending the auction was one of the nurses who had cared for the boy while he was sick. She grew to love him as she took care of him every day. She still had this love in her heart and she wanted to buy a picture of him that was hanging on his bedroom wall. The nurse was older now and things had not gone too well for her lately. She was poor. She had brought only two dollars to auction and was afraid it wouldn’t be enough to buy the portrait. She prayed ahead of time and even prayed at the auction that no one would outbid her for the picture. It seemed like forever to the old nurse as she clutched the two dollars in her hand and followed the auctioneer and crowd from room to room. People were eagerly buying expensive items of furniture.
Finally, they came to the son’s bedroom. The furniture sold quickly. At last, the auctioneer pointed to the son’s portrait hanging on the wall. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid on the picture. The nurse responded, “I’ll bid everything I have, and that’s two dollars.”
There was silence. It seemed like forever, then the auctioneer said, “I have two dollars. Do I hear more? Going, going, gone. Sold for two dollars.” Quickly the nurse paid and rushed to the wall to get the picture of the boy she had so dearly loved. As she took the picture down, something fell from it. Surprised, she picked it up. It was an envelope with papers in it. She gave it to the auctioneer. He was puzzled and he gave it to the lawyers, saying it looked like a will. Sure enough, it was the missing will! Everyone held their breath as a lawyer read the will, “To the one who loved my son enough to want his portrait, I will all of my houses, all of my possessions and all of my money.” The nurse inherited everything from the father because she loved the son.