“What a silly monkey! No one could ever catch me that way,” said Andy.
“Me either,” said Alyson.
“What are you talking about?” asked Bruce who had just joined them.
“A missionary was telling us this afternoon in Sunday school how they catch monkeys in Peru. He said the natives there like to eat them. So, in order to catch them, they cut a round hole in a coconut just big enough for the monkey to stick his hand in. Then they put a peanut inside the coconut and tie it to a tree. Along comes the monkey, and you know how much monkeys like peanuts! When he discovers there is a peanut inside the coconut, he puts his hand in the hole to get it. But when he holds the peanut, his hand becomes a fist and it’s too big to pull out of the hole! But the silly thing about the monkey is that he won’t let go of the peanut. When the native sees the monkey with his hand in the hole, he says to himself, ‘Now, I will have a nice monkey dinner!’ ”
“When the monkey sees the man coming, the monkey is afraid and squeals and chatters. Then he pulls harder and harder to get his fist out of the coconut, but he won’t let go of the peanut. Then the native grabs him!”
“Silly monkey!” said Bruce.
Andy agreed and then said, “But that’s not all. The missionary said that we think the monkey is silly, but we are just as silly.”
“Why?” asked Bruce.
“He explained that we are all sinners, and Satan has us trapped. If we don’t run to the Lord Jesus for safety, Satan will have us forever! So we are just like that silly monkey, because we hang on to our sins and won’t let go of them. Anything that we hang on to that keeps us from coming to the Lord Jesus is like the peanut that made the monkey lose its life.”
“No, I’m not like that monkey,” said Bruce. “I know the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, and I know my sins are gone forever, and I’m glad.”
Boys and girls, what about you? Are you trying to hold on to the things of this world, rather than letting them go and turning to the Lord Jesus who loves you? No matter what it is, if it keeps you from coming to the Lord Jesus for forgiveness of your sins, you are just as silly as that monkey with the peanut. Don’t wait any longer. Satan, your enemy, has his eye on you! He does not want you to come to the Lord Jesus. But Jesus loves you and wants you to come right now. Once you admit to God that you are a sinner and accept His Son Jesus as your Saviour, your sins are gone, and you are safely on your way to heaven to live with the Lord Jesus. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).
ML-06/13/2004