The alligator and the turtle are different in many respects from other animals. For one thing, they never stop growing as long as they live. Each year of their lives adds to their size.
Isn’t it good that God has not made all animals that way! Nobody cares how big an alligator gets, but we certainly wouldn’t want our dogs to grow as big as cows and run in and out of the house. God does everything wisely and well.
The alligator lays its eggs in a wedge in the sand near the bank of a stream or a lake, up a little way from the water. She never goes back to see them. She never mothers her young. She just places the eggs where the warm sun can reach them and then goes away down the river and leaves the babies to hustle for themselves. The eggs hatch in 42 days or six weeks.
One time a missionary found an alligator’s nest with two eggs in it about the size and shape of an ostrich egg. He noticed that one of them was cracked as if the baby alligator was about to be hatched. So he lay down beside the nest to watch the little thing come out of the shell.
In a short time the crack in the egg widened. Presently the shell broke open. Then a little alligator about 12 inches long, crawled out. It seemed quite surprised at its new surroundings. But it spread itself out comfortably on the warm sand to get dry and become accustomed to this great new world into which it had come.
The missionary watched it closely to see what it would do. It happened that as it emerged from the shell, it headed up towards the woods, with its tail toward the river. After perhaps an hour of resting in the sunshine, the alligator slowly turned around and started down toward the river. It had never seen water. It had never been swimming. It had never used its little jaws for food. It had never seen an enemy.
My friend wanted to see whether the alligator was tame or wild. So he put his finger down toward its mouth, thinking he would turn its head around facing the woods again and see whether it would go in that direction. As soon as the little animal noticed the finger, he jumped at it and snapped as if he would bite it off with those sharp new teeth. The finger was pulled back just in time. Then the alligator hurried down the bank toward the water.
How did this little thing, just out of the shell, know which way to go to find water? How did it know there were enemies? It knew because of the animal nature given it by God. No amount of teaching or training could change the alligator. The only way it could be changed would be for God to give it a new nature.
So it is with us, boys and girls. As soon as we are born, we begin to find ways of doing wrong things. Sinful and wicked things attract us early in life. Unless the Lord Jesus changes us and we are born again, we shall continue with that sinful nature. Christ, however, would like to save each one of you. If you trust Him with your soul, He will make you a new person in Him.