Dinner was served, and all the family and relatives were seated at the long table enjoying their meal. Mother had set the desserts out on the counter in the kitchen. There were two pumpkin pies, one mince pie, and an apple pie too!
Outside on the back porch was Charlie the squirrel. He sat very impatiently on the porch railing, jerking his big bushy tail. His dark little eyes darted here and there. You see, the kitchen window was open and he could smell food.
Charlie was waiting for the children to come out to feed him. They all liked him and thought he was so cute. They had fed him for a long time, and he had become used to “people” food. He did not gather nuts and acorns as he had done before. No, Charlie preferred “people” food.
But “people” food is not the right kind of food for squirrels. God has given them lots of seeds, nuts and acorns to keep them fed and happy. But Charlie still preferred “people” food. And aren’t we just like Charlie? God has provided good food and good things for us, but we often prefer the bad. We all have a nature in us that likes the “bad food”—that likes to sin. “There is no man which sinneth not” (1 Kings 8:4646If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; (1 Kings 8:46)). And that sinful nature we each have leads us into trouble that we can’t get out of. Now let’s see what happened to hungry Charlie.
The children were too busy eating to notice Charlie on the back porch. And he was tired of waiting for them to bring him something to eat. He jumped up onto the windowsill and looked into the kitchen. He saw those pies sitting on the counter, and he could smell them too! The only thing keeping him from those pies was the screen in the window. It didn’t take long for his sharp, little claws to make two long slits in that screen.
First his little nose peeked in through the opening, and then his head went in, and then all of Charlie went in. He jumped across to the counter and walked right through those pumpkin pies!
Just then the swinging doors opened and Mother came into the kitchen. Seeing Charlie on the counter, she called, “Come quickly! Charlie’s in the kitchen!” What confusion there was as everyone rushed into the kitchen to help chase Charlie out.
Poor Charlie, not only was he in big trouble, but he was so scared he didn’t know which way to turn. There were flapping towels and swinging brooms coming at him from every direction. Finally he found the opened door and scampered out to the safety of a tree.
God loves you and me and has provided a way out of the trouble our sin nature has gotten us into. He offers to forgive us our sins and to give us a new nature that prefers the “good food” that will make us happy. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)). That new nature can be yours simply by accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior. He will be that open door to safety for you. The Lord Jesus says, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture [good food]” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
Are you willing to give up that “bad food” that your sin nature prefers for the “good food” that Christ offers you?
ML-10/28/2018