Dear Children,
Our great granddaughter, Makayla, had just gotten home from school and was sitting at the kitchen table eating a snack. Looking out the big kitchen window, she saw something in the yard inching towards the pond. She called out, “Mom, there’s a big cat in our yard out by the pond! Look!”
And so her mother came to see this cat. But as she watched it, she realized it was moving so slowly that she didn’t think it could be a cat unless it was ready to pounce on something. Not seeing anything else, she decided, no, it wasn’t a cat. It was a huge snapping turtle!
Makayla ran out the front door to tell her brother Justin and his two school friends, Scott and Jeremy. They had been shooting hoops in the driveway, but she sure got their attention! The boys took off to see this monster turtle, taking hockey sticks with them ... maybe for protection! Everybody knows you don’t fool around with a snapping turtle.
It only took a minute or two until they were close to the snapper. What would they do now?
Now a snapping turtle is very smart. It does not move very fast, but its head can dart out, much like a snake, and its jaws are like a vise and will not let go! It will lie very still underwater, about eight to twelve inches below the surface. Then when a fish or frog or baby duck swims past, out darts its head, and “SNAP!” The snapper gets it and never misses!
Children, this turtle reminds us of our enemy Satan.
You may ask, “Why is that, Grampa?”
Think about when you are in a store and you see something you want but you don’t have enough money to pay for it. Satan will whisper to you, “Go ahead and steal it.” If you steal it, you have just broken God’s commandment, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:1515Thou shalt not steal. (Exodus 20:15)). Stealing is sin.
Then someone finds out about it, and Satan whispers to you to lie about it. So you say, “I didn’t steal it!” Now telling a lie is also sin. Then you start to use bad language, which is also sin. That’s three sins right in a row!
Boys and girls, it only takes one sin to keep you out of heaven! But I want to tell you right now that God has made a way to have our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven rather than spend eternity with Satan in that terrible place called hell. If you have a Bible, read 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): “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.” If you will tell the Lord Jesus that you are sorry for your sins and want Him to wash them all away, He will do that immediately and make you one of His very own children. Then when Satan bothers you, trying to make you do something bad, you can ask the Lord Jesus to help you do what’s right. “The Lord is my helper” (Hebrews 13:66So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. (Hebrews 13:6)). Asking the Lord Jesus to help you is the only way to overpower Satan.
Now, how were Justin, Scott, Jeremy and Makayla going to overpower that big snapping turtle and get it out of the yard and away from their pond? The children’s dad soon arrived home from work and came to the rescue. They found a very large tub and rolled the turtle into it. Then they tied a rope around the tub and pulled it over to their van and lifted it in. Everyone climbed into the van for the ride over to the river where they let it go. That snapper was one happy turtle! And everyone was happy to see it swim out into the river.
We like happy endings, and that was a happy ending for everyone, including the turtle. And Jesus wants you to have a happy ending with Him in heaven.
Lots of love,
Grampa and Gramma