I was working on my computer when Dad came to the door. “Abigail had twins,” he reported, “but the female is so small I don’t know if she’s going to make it. Come out when you can.”
As soon as I could, I headed out to the barn. It was early June—springtime—when my goats have their babies. Abigail was a big, pretty goat and a good mother.
I peered into the pen. Uh-oh, I thought, that kid is really small. (Baby goats are called “kids.”) She was so small that I said to Dad, “Is it worth trying to save her?” We decided to try, after all, she was alive, and life is valuable.
The tiny one-pound goat (later named Peppermint but lovingly known as Minty) had a twin brother that was much larger, maybe three or four pounds. He was healthy, but Minty was frail and was going to need lots of special care if she were to survive. We took her out of the pen so she wouldn’t get stepped on by the other goats and kept her in a cardboard box.
For some baby animals, it takes some encouragement to teach them to drink from a bottle, but Minty caught on quickly. From the time she was born, she was very good at sucking milk from the bottle. She also had a good pair of lungs and would often greet us with a high-pitched “MAAAA.” This was her way of talking to us. For weeks we bottle-fed her, using both her mother’s milk and later cow’s milk. I grew to love this little goat, so tiny and weak, and soon she began to recognize us, knowing we were her food supply.
One day when she was older but still being bottle fed, I took the bottle out at noon. Several of the kids, including Minty, had escaped into the hedgerow. I knew where they were, so I called to her, “Minteeeee! Minteeeee!” From across the back pasture she heard her name, and she came to me!
When I remember how small Minty was and how we love her because we had to take special care of her, I realize that this is what the Lord Jesus has done for us. From heaven He saw that you and I were helpless, hopeless sinners, even when we were very small children. He loved us so much that He didn’t want to let us die as sinners—we were valuable to Him. He knew what it would take to save us, and He chose to do what was necessary. He gave up His home in heaven and came down to earth to die for sinners—little children and grown-ups too—so that we could be saved from our sins.
In Bible times, when mothers brought their children to Jesus so that he would touch them, the disciples told them to go away and not to bother Him. But Jesus said to His disciples, “Suffer [let] the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:1414But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. (Mark 10:14)). He cares and loves even the smallest children, as well as bigger children and teenagers and grown-ups too, and He wants all of us to be saved from our sins. Have you accepted Him as your very own Saviour? If not, you can do that right now. You need to tell the Lord Jesus that you are sorry for your sins and that you want Him to wash them away. Will He do that for you? Here’s your answer: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (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)).
All believers, having been washed from their sins, need the pure milk of God’s Word so that they may grow spiritually. Little children can begin to learn about Jesus and His love for them when they are very young, just as Minty started out with only milk from a bottle. But as she grew, we later gave her hay to eat. And as children grow older and learn to read, they can begin reading the Bible and memorizing verses that will help them for the rest of their lives.
Minty is now almost two years old and weighs about fifteen pounds. And as young believers read the Bible and grow in their Christian lives, they will learn more and more of God’s love and also learn to do what pleases Him.
ML-06/24/2012