In the backwoods of Venezuela a missionary met a native hunter who had with him a skin of a cougar or a mountain lion. The hunter told him he had been out hunting with his dog when they came upon the track of the lion. The lion went into a hole in a great pile of rocks, and the dog went in after him. The dog did not come out, for it was nailed down by the great claws of the cougar.
The poor dog was in a desperate case, and facing death. To save his life, the hunter crawled into that dark hole underneath the rocks, with his knife in his mouth. All alone he killed the lion and rescued his dog.
The missionary bought the lion’s skin from the hunter and brought it home.
He had saved his dog’s life at the risk of his own. And this is but a faint reflection of the love and devotion of our blessed Lord Jesus who went into death, even the death of the cross to rescue sinners like you and me from the death grip of Satan, that roaring lion who wields the power of death. It was our sins that took Him there, 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).
Jesus died, but rose again, the mighty Victor over death and the grave. He has rescued and set free all those who have trusted Him as their Saviour. Now “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
ML-02/04/1979