The Oatmeal Jelly Bean Parable

This morning, my kids wanted a jelly bean after breakfast. I told them that if they ate all their oatmeal, they could have a jelly bean. Dylan gobbled his down and happily got his jelly bean. Colden slowly ate his, then decided half-way through that he didn't like it anymore. He still wanted a jelly bean. But he couldn't have it because he didn't meet the requirements (justice). He started to weep...I expected wailing, but he composed himself enough to just weep. He did eat 5 more small bites, which I thought was a good effort. But I still didn't want to give in (because I knew a healthy breakfast was better for him since we're going to church and he won't get his customary large mid-morning snack...aka 4th meal).
Well, he settled down. The softie in me came into play. Then I suggested an alternative (mercy). If he chose to eat another healthy cereal, then he could have a jelly bean. So, he's eating his cereal in anticipation for a jelly bean. Justice was served (a healthy breakfast) and mercy was granted (a different choice of breakfast).
And then I thought--what a wonderful parable!!

And you should see the smile on his face when he realized that he could have the jelly bean. What joy!!