Buttercup was so proud of her puppies. This was her first litter, and she was such a good mother to them. Vanessa, Olivia and Alicia, her three little owners, loved those puppies almost as much as Buttercup did. Lots of their friends came over to see the puppies and to hold them and play with them. Buttercup didn’t mind these visitors. She seemed to enjoy the attention to her little family.
As the weeks went by, the puppies grew bigger. The family knew they shouldn’t keep the puppies much longer. It’s always easier to find homes for puppies when they are cute and playful, rather than when they are bigger. And so, one by one, they found a good home for each puppy ... until finally the last one had been given away.
It was kind of hard for the family to give up the puppies, but it was even harder on Buttercup. She was so lonesome she just wandered around. Sometimes she howled because she missed her pups so much.
One day not long after, one of the girls brought home two baby rabbits. The family called Buttercup over to see the little balls of fluff. Once Buttercup saw them she could not take her eyes off them. She began to clean them just like she had done with her own puppies. She quickly adopted them as her own, nursing them and watching over them just as if they were her own babies. And the little bunnies seemed to be just as happy to have Buttercup take care of them. It didn’t matter to Buttercup that they were rabbits. She had adopted a new family.
This story of Buttercup and the little rabbits reminds us of how God has brought poor, lost, helpless sinners into His family. Because of our sins we were enemies of God, and yet He loved us so much that He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die on the cross for us. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:1010Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (1 John 4:10)).
Every one who accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour is born into the family of God. “As many as received Him [Jesus], to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:1212But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: (John 1:12)).
The little rabbits were loved and cared for by Buttercup, but they could never become dogs. They would always be rabbits. But when God brings us into His family and we become His children, He gives us a new life like His. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away ... 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)).
Soon the Lord Jesus is coming to take His family home to heaven to be with Himself forever. Do you belong to His family?
ML-06/19/2011