After reviewing many biblical examples of faith, the Apostle Paul wrote: “Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1–2).

In the Parable of the Footrace, the runner represents each of us, and the track he ran is our personal path, and even the plan that God has for each of His children. The race organizer represents God Himself. In a sense, we might say we’re thrown into the race before we really realize what has happened—the starting pistol has fired, and here we are with our spirits housed in our bodies and living life while we try to figure out how we ended up here in the first place.

The Parable of the Best Chocolate represents the trap we can fall into when making an offering to Heavenly Father. He makes some not insignificant requests of us. From the time of Adam until Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses, the firstling of the flock was to be dedicated to the Lord and offered in sacrifice as an atonement for sin (Moses 5:5, 20). It had to be without blemish of any sort. Giving a flawless firstling required faith that there would be more to come.

I wrote this parable about the time I realized that in a particular aspect of my life, I was not giving God the best. (I won’t pretend that it’s the only aspect.) During the work week, I aim to go to bed around 9:30pm so I can get about eight hours of sleep before I get up and fit in everything I want to do before going to work. I have small children who wake up anywhere between 5:45 and 7:00 in the morning, and an adult needs to be conscious. It works out fine because the majority of the time, I’m already awake by the time they wake up.