"Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth" (Eccl. 12:1).
No clown ever looked funnier than this little toad, sitting upright with its legs and arms outstretched, eyes bright and a big grin across its face as if saying: "Hi there. My name is bufo boreas. Want to be friends?"
The bufoes hatch from eggs in ponds beside the Los Angeles River in Southern California. But after changing from a tadpole into a toad, they leave their birthplace, climb the bank, and go in search of a new home. A golf course or park area will do very well for a year or two, but sooner or later they will return to their original home to join others in producing new batches of tadpoles.
In these trips many hazards await them. Although large numbers are killed each year crossing busy paved roads or die on sun-baked parking lots, their numbers never seem to decrease.
Nearly 500 miles farther north in high meadows near Yosemite Park, an equally restless cousin to bufo boreas also leaves its home to seek adventure in life. This one is bufo canorus, but because of a rugged life-style it is not as cheerful as its relative.
To escape the killing cold of the high mountains, these little creatures hibernate from October until May or June when they come out into the warm sunshine to loaf and happily enjoy themselves, at the same time gaining strength and energy for what is before them.
Soon, like those in the south, they start out to find a suitable pond for a summer home and to raise new batches of tadpoles. But there is quite a trip ahead with many snowdrifts to be crossed, and that is not easy for toads that cannot let their bodies get too chilled or they will freeze to death.
But their Creator has given them remarkable instincts. Coming to a patch of snow too large to go around, they stand up on their hind feet to look it over, and then, with only occasional rests, tiptoe on their four feet across the patch, keeping their stomachs high and dry. They are surprisingly sure-footed on those slippery surfaces.
After crossing several such areas, the sought-after pond will be found and provide a summer home. What amazing toads these are! The opening verse tells us to "remember" the Lord Jesus, and that means not only as Creator, but also as the Savior of sinners. He invites us to live in His home in heaven when life here is ended. He has paid the full debt of every sinner who comes to Him, confessing that they are sinners and asking Him to be their Savior. When this is truly done, heaven will be their eternal home.
Make sure you are prepared for it.