Hen and Chickens

Our dear Lord, in Matthew 23:37,37O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matthew 23:37) spoke of the love of the hen for her chickens which He has planted in their hearts, and which sometimes makes the mother hen die for her children. During a long, dry season in North West America a prairie fire suddenly sprang up and burnt the whole country cut, and in some cases the farmers could not escape. A relief party from a distant town came round, and riding past a charred cottage one of the men saw a black hen sitting on the ground. On going up to it he found the hen quite dead, the head and back burnt to a cinder, but the bird sat with its wings spread out. He gave it a kick, when three little chickens ran out. The poor little hen-mother bravely sat still amid the flames, choosing rather to be burnt to death than one of them (her chickens) should perish; and so our gracious Lord was willing to die on the cross that we might look unto Him and be saved. Yes, the one thing necessary and indispensable is to know Him Who died that we might be saved forever.