Looking out of our kitchen window recently, there was a most interesting contest taking place! There were two animals in our backyard, a squirrel and a cat, and they seemed to be playing a game of tag!
The squirrel was in a tree, and the cat was at the bottom of the tree, closely watching the squirrel. The squirrel was wanting to come down to the ground, but there sat the cat, who was not his friend. So the squirrel waited, upside down, on the other side of the tree trunk, ready to dash at any moment to the ground. His tail was shaking nervously. Every so often he would climb around to the other side of the trunk and peek down at the cat. This game went on for at least twenty minutes, but the cat just sat waiting at the bottom of the tree. We wondered which animal would win the contest.
After a while, the cat seemed to get bored. He yawned and stretched himself by clawing at the tree trunk with his front paws. Slowly he walked away from the tree, taking a backward look every so often to see if the squirrel was coming down.
Sometime later, after checking to see if his enemy had left, the squirrel came down the tree very slowly. Then he scampered away safely.
How much the cat is like our enemy Satan who tries again and again to trip us up. He may keep trying for a long time, waiting for us to give up in defeat. The Bible has good advice for us in James 4:77Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (James 4:7): “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
What a good lesson the cat and squirrel had for us that day. If they had gotten into a fight, one of them might have gotten badly injured or even lost its life. I suspect the cat would have won. For us as well, children, there would be very serious results if we give up and allow Satan to win the battles in our lives.
All of us who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ know that He is our Friend who will help us to win every battle with our enemy. The Lord Jesus is stronger than Satan and defeated him at Calvary’s cross when He rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them [Satan and his evil spirits]: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:44Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. (1 John 4:4)).
That squirrel was pretty smart to stay up in the tree, since he didn’t have a friend to call to for help. If you belong to the Lord Jesus, He is your Friend whom you can call to for help anytime and anywhere. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15)).
ML-05/11/2003