Something was eating the lettuce and carrots in our garden! We had worked hard early in the spring to prepare the ground and plant the seeds. The new little plants had come up nicely, and now an animal was eating in the garden. We watched closely and found that a groundhog was the guilty one. We didn’t mind a groundhog having a little breakfast now and then, but we did not like him eating all his meals day after day in the garden in which we had worked so hard.
Finally, we decided to call the Humane Society to see if they could give us any suggestions on how to catch a groundhog. “Sure,” they replied. “We’ll lend you a trap.”
That very day they brought a trap to our house. This trap would catch an animal but would not harm it. The man was very helpful and told us, “Just put a little corn in the trap and you’ll catch the groundhog.”
Before going to bed that night, we set the trap in our garden with some corn inside and looked forward to the end of our problems.
The next morning we looked out the window and saw that, sure enough, an animal was in the trap. I went out to see, and imagine my surprise when I saw that it wasn’t the groundhog! Inside the trap was our neighbor’s pet cat! Our family especially likes cats, so I immediately said, “Poor pussycat!” and went to set the cat free.
As I got close the cat hissed at me. I moved closer to the cage, and it growled at me. As I reached for the trap door, it swatted its claws at my hand. That cat! I was trying to open the door and it was fighting me! That cat thought I was trying to harm it when I was really trying to set it free.
It reminded me of how our loving God is offering to set boys and girls and men and women free from their sins, and many are either afraid or angry. Some refuse to go to a Bible meeting to listen to God’s Word because they do not know that the Bible says, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:3232And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32). Others get quite angry if someone even offers them a simple gospel paper that tells of God’s love. Others know very well that they are sinners and need to be saved, but they turn down God’s offer of salvation because they are afraid they will not enjoy living like a Christian. But everything that God wants to give you is for your good and blessing. He alone brings lasting joy. Believe and trust in the goodness of God today! “Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee.” Psalms 31:1919Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! (Psalm 31:19).
We were finally able to free the frightened cat, but we still wanted to catch that groundhog! So we set the trap out the second night, and sure enough, the next morning there was another animal in the cage. When we went out to see this animal, we could hardly believe it. This time we had caught a raccoon! The poor old raccoon really wanted out of that cage. He must have worked all night long trying to escape. He had stuck a paw out the sides of the cage to try to dig his way out. He had clawed and clawed in the dirt and had dug quite a deep hole on each side of the cage. But, of course, he could never dig his way out! He had only succeeded in filling the trap with dirt!
This was an example to me of folks who know that they are “trapped” in their sins. The Bible says plainly, “His own iniquities [sins] shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” Proverbs 5:2222His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins. (Proverbs 5:22). Many try hard, just like this raccoon did, to free themselves from sin. They try to “be good” or “do the best they can,” or perhaps they even do many kind and good works. But the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus has already finished the work for our salvation. When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, He said, “It is finished.” He bore the punishment for sin and now He offers a free salvation, because — He paid the price! “Not by works of righteousness [good works] which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” Titus 3:55Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; (Titus 3:5).
We opened the door and let the poor raccoon out of the trap. And so we waited for night to come to again put more corn inside the trap, because that groundhog was still eating our carrots and lettuce.
But the third morning the trap was empty. Well we tried again, and the fourth morning it was still empty.
By this time we were getting just a bit discouraged, so we phoned the Humane Society again. “It just isn’t working,” we told them. “We caught a cat and a raccoon, but the groundhog pays no attention to the corn in the trap and eats our garden instead.”
They gave us another suggestion. “Try putting a little butter on the corn.” Butter! We had not ever thought of trying that. But since this was our last hope, we tried one more time. When we set the trap that fifth night, we put out buttered corn.
The next morning when we woke up we found that, sure enough, there was an animal in the trap. We had caught our groundhog at last! It had ignored plain corn for four nights in a row, but it couldn’t resist buttered corn!
We must warn you that Satan also has his “traps” set for boys and girls. He will offer you many attractions and entertainments to lead you away from God. Since you are young, you may think that you will not fall into the devil’s traps of sin like older people do. You may tell yourself that you will be careful and never get very far from God. Beware! If “plain corn” won’t tempt you, Satan also has “buttered corn.” He will make a temptation so inviting that you will not be able to resist it unless... you have the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and you call to Him for help. Receive the Lord Jesus as your Saviour now while you are young. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36). “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” Ecclesiastes 12:11Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; (Ecclesiastes 12:1).
ML-11/20/1988