Koko is a most unusual gorilla; she is probably the most unusual gorilla in the world... because Koko talks. "Talks!" you say. Well, not exactly like we talk, with words you can hear, but Koko talks with Ameslan, the hand language of the deaf. Over the years a woman by the name of Penny Patterson has been instructing Koko to talk with her hands, and Koko has learned a vocabulary of over five hundred words. As part of her lessons, Koko's teacher would read stories to her. Among Koko's favorite stories were "The Three Little Kittens" and "Puss in Boots."
Thinking about Koko's favorite stories, it is no wonder that one day Koko asked her teacher for a favor. She asked for a kitten of her very own! Gorillas, being vegetarians, even in the wild have been noted for their gentle behavior towards small animals. Koko's teacher, thinking something less than a real kitten would do, brought her pupil a stuffed toy kitten. Well, Koko made it very plain that she did not have a toy in mind at all-she wanted the real thing! So her teacher found a litter of kittens and brought them to Koko to let her choose her own kitten. Koko picked out a boy kitten that had no tail, to be her very own pet and named him All Ball.
All Ball became Koko's constant companion and best friend. Koko loved her furry little friend. Although All Ball was a feisty, rollicking, playful little kitten who loved to bite everything that moved, including gorillas, the two became very attached.
Flying Hooves and Dangerous Kisses Koko would hug and kiss and hold the little kitten as though it were her own baby. All Ball must have felt very safe and secure when Koko would pick him up in her large, powerful arms and hold him tucked up very close to herself. In such a position All all did not have a fear in the world.
One day All Ball wandered out of the gorilla cage into the street where he was struck and killed by a car. Poor Koko wept when she heard the news. How she had loved her little friend. Had she known what was happening, she would have used all her strength to prevent All Ball's death.
Koko would have prevented her kitten's death if she could have, but she was unable to. The Lord Jesus loves every one of us. He knew that we were headed toward certain death, "for the wages of sin is death" (Rom. 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)), and "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:2323For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23)). But unlike Koko, the Lord Jesus is able to save every one of us. He can do this because He went to Calvary's cross to pay the penalty for sin, which was death. It is there at Calvary that we learn the terribleness of our sins and also the wonderful grace of God. God is now able to offer to the guilty world the free forgiveness of sins, because His Son, the Lord Jesus, died to bear the punishment for those sins. God is now justly able to offer everlasting life to every man, woman and child who will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. If you haven't believed on Him yet, won't you believe on Him and receive everlasting life today?
All Ball must have felt very safe in Koko's arms, but we can be safe forever in the arms of Jesus. What a very happy, joyous thing it is to know the Lord Jesus' love and tender care in this life right now.