IN St. Louis there have been for many years, bears kept in big, strong, iron cages, so they may not escape. Anyone who had been to Forest Park where they are, could have seen them—the big white polar bear, the cinnamon brown bears, and the smaller black bears, pacing their cages incessantly back and forth, never stopping, unless to eat or sleep. How unhappy they were in their small quarters, being in sight of the great outdoors which they could not enjoy! How sorry I used to feel for them as I watched them, and wished I could set them free!
Evidently I was not the only one who had noticed their unhappy looks, for after a great deal of planning and expenditure of money, a beautiful place has been built for them. The pits where they can roam, at liberty, look just like their natural haunts among the mountains and trees. On three sides, great rocks which they cannot climb, enclose them, and on the fourth side, a deep trench filled with water keeps them safely in.
They have lost their restlessness, and now they lie down peacefully on a rock, or explore leisurely every nook of their new home.
They are happy because they are free, or imagine they are, while everything is provided for their needs and comfort.
Just such a change, or rather a greater is experienced by those who, having felt the bondage of sin, in which they were held by Satan have turned to Jesus, and have been made free “by the blood of the Lamb.”
Many go on without realizing that they are not free, but are the slaves of Satan. Such of course, do not long for deliverance, —do not feel the need of a Saviour. May they wake up to the solemn fact and take salvation before it is too late.
ML 04/02/1922