“Bear” is the name of a big furry dog. He is called “Bear” because his head looks something like a bear’s head and he has a very thick neck like a bear’s. The first few times I saw Bear he growled at me and I was scared, even though his owner, Brian, was standing right there.
Bear liked to hunt in the woods by his house. He was good at it, too. No small animal was safe, once he decided to track it down. None, that is, until Bear met “Mr. Porcupine.” Bear’s strength, his fierce growl and his great hunting ability didn’t do him one bit of good when he met the porcupine.
His first fight with the porcupine was the worst one he had. Without the help of Brian and the vet, Bear would have died.
Since Bear had never seen a porcupine before, he pounced on the porcupine and tried to bite him. The porcupine’s quills stuck not only into Bear’s nose, cheeks, chin and paws, but also inside his mouth and even in his throat! Poor Bear!
When Brian got home, he found Bear whimpering in pain and about as sick as a dog could be. Brian got a pair of pliers and pulled out all the quills that he could, but the ones in Bear’s throat had to be removed by the vet. The poor dog was in pain for at least another week and had to take medicine so the quill punctures wouldn’t get infected.
What do you think Bear did the next time he saw a porcupine? He went after it again! He didn’t attack quite as forcefully as he did the first time, but he still had to go to the animal hospital to have more quills removed and have more medicine. This happened six times before he learned to leave porcupines alone!
Doesn’t that sound dumb? But you know, boys and girls, we are a lot like Bear. We think we are strong, able to be good enough to go to heaven on our own good behavior. Sometimes it takes us a long time to learn that we can never be good enough.
That would be very bad news, except that the Lord Jesus came to take the punishment for our sins so we can be forgiven and go to heaven when He comes. He died and His blood was shed to wash away all our sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son [cleanses] us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). That is good news, and I hope you have believed it for yourself. Best of all, the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead. This shows that all our sins were truly taken care of, and we can now have peace with God.
Messages of God’s Love 4/27/2025