I was enjoying looking out our dining room window at the beautiful green shrubs and grass along the street where we live. Suddenly, I saw a rabbit dash out from underneath one of our neighbor’s large shrubs and attack a magpie in the grass. Now a magpie is a large, black-and-white bird, a little larger than its cousin the crow. Like the crow, a magpie is noisy, aggressive and a thief! It will steal eggs and even baby birds from other birds’ nests.
The magpie must have seen the rabbit coming, for it picked something up from the grass in its beak and tried to fly away, but it couldn’t. The rabbit stood on its hind feet and clawed at the bird with its front feet. It didn’t take long to figure out that the magpie had raided the rabbit’s nest and had stolen a baby bunny. But even a very small bunny was too heavy a load for the magpie to fly away with, and the mother rabbit was trying with all her might to rescue her baby.
How would you feel if you were that baby bunny? I know I would be very scared. But every one of us has been taken captive by an enemy that is far stronger and craftier than any hungry magpie! Our enemy is Satan, and sometimes we don’t even recognize him, because he often comes disguised as an angel of light. Other times he attacks like a vicious, roaring lion. But always he is a deceiver! Don’t let yourself be fooled by him. God saw our need to be rescued from our sins and Satan, and He had a plan, a very costly plan. He sent His own beloved Son down here to rescue us from this awful, deceitful enemy who has ensnared all of us in sin.
But sometimes a rescuer arrives too late. I ran out the front door, and that scared both the magpie and the mother rabbit away. The magpie dropped the baby bunny and flew off, but it was too late to save the little bunny’s life.
Don’t wait until it’s too late to be rescued from your sins and Satan’s power. Cry out to the Lord Jesus now to save you. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)). It’s that simple.
Enemies don’t usually give up after just one attack; they come back later. And that magpie came back later and dragged its little victim away and, no doubt, devoured it. Our enemy Satan is the same way; he always comes back to try again. God warns us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: whom resist steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
Will you come to the Lord Jesus right now and let Him save you from your sins and Satan’s power? When the Lord Jesus died on the cross and then rose again from the grave, He broke Satan’s power and is able to save you from our cruel enemy. The Lord Jesus loves you and will guard and protect you when He has saved you and you belong to Him. “The Son of Man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:5656For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. (Luke 9:56)).
ML-10/13/2002