WHAT a sight we have before us! How frightened you would be if you were in the place of these men. Their lives are in great danger: we all know how very fierce bears are when they are attacked, or when they are hungry. Isn’t it good that we live in a settled country, where we need not fear the wild beasts of the forest? You probably have seen a bear, but I am sure it was behind iron bars, or was penned within stone walls. None of us would want to meet one of these animals in the street or in our own yard: they seek flesh to eat, and will prey upon man or beast. The lion has the same ferocious nature. Have you ever seen a lion? He can make a tremendous roar, and is called the king of beasts, for he is the strongest of any of the wild animals.
While we feel we are safe from ever meeting a bear or a lion, even in our woods, yet we do have a great enemy who has been compared to a lion. Do you know who it is? God has warned us about him in the Bible. He calls him an adversary, which means an enemy. Satan is this adversary, and he is great and powerful. He comes to boys and girls in a pleasing way to make them sin; he tells them there is no harm in this thing and that, and they don’t realize that he is like these wild beasts, leading them on to harm. It is this evil one who puts it into the hearts of people to neglect their greatest Friend, the Lord Jesus. Let us give our hearts to the Saviour, who loved us so much that He gave Himself in death for us. He is able to keep this wicked one from having power over our lives. “Kept by the power of God.”
ML 09/22/1912