Have you ever followed your nose? The big black bear follows his nose because there is nothing else for him to follow. When something smells good, his nose says, “Let’s go!” And he never stops to think about stealing or trespassing. He just takes whatever he can reach!
That’s what happened in a Canadian lumber camp. It was spring, after the bear’s long winter hibernation, and he was very hungry. When he lifted his nose, he smelled the strange, sweet smell of baked beans drifting through the pines. Do you know what he did? He just followed his nose!
Why not? If you want something, why not go for it? When it’s just a hungry bear, God has no Bible or Saviour or heaven or hell for bears. However, He does have a Bible, a Saviour and heaven for people. He wants us to know there is also a hell. Before you follow your nose to get what you want, stop and think: Is this what God has chosen for me? You can find out by reading His book, the Bible, and by asking Him to make your choices for you. If you do, He will give you His best choice—the Saviour of sinners for today and forever.
The bear’s nose led him to the cook’s tent, where 20 hungry men expected to have their dinner in an hour or so. The tent door was open, so the bear walked right in. The oven door was wired shut, but that was no problem for a hungry bear. One or two good swats of his big paw, and that oven door opened! The bear sat down on the floor with the bean pot in his lap, the wonderful smell in his nose, and his big paw for a scoop.
The beans must have been scalding hot, but that didn’t slow him down. He cleaned out every scrap and tossed aside the empty pot. Then, without bothering to look for the door, he tore a huge hole in the side of the tent and ambled off into the forest with 20 men’s dinner in his stomach. Some job, Mr. Bear!
Have you ever stopped to think that God made hell for the devil and his angels? But thieves will go there too, if they are not saved from their sins—big thieves and little thieves; those who steal money and those who steal pencils or snacks. God will not have one sin in His home. Revelation 21 tells us that. Stealing isn’t sin for bears; it’s quite natural for them. But God has given you and me a conscience that knows right and wrong. It is wrong for us to take things that are not ours, and God will not let us get away with it. The settling day will come: “After [death] the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27).
What happened when the lumbermen came in for dinner? Not much could be done about it, so it was a hungry afternoon. However, the work had to be done. They really appreciated their supper that night.
What happens when you take what doesn’t belong to you? There are two answers to that question. One is that you must spend eternity in hell to pay for that sin (Revelation 21:8). The other is that the Lord Jesus loves you so much that He suffered and died for you on the cross and gave His precious blood so that your sins could be forgiven. There are only two answers. Which do you choose?
If you really want to have the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, kneel down and tell Him so. Don’t just put this paper down and forget it. Bears just turn into dust when they die, and that’s the end of them, but God has a wonderful future for you if you will accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. If you put it off, that first answer will be yours.
“It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-28).
Are you included in that “many”?
MEMORY VERSE: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:27-28
ML-06/14/2015