“Mew, mew, mew, mew.” Brian and Lisa ran to the spot where they heard the cries of a tiny kitten. There, all alone, they found a tiny ball of gray and white fur with baby-blue eyes just beginning to open. The little kitten was very hungry and lost. Apparently the mother barn cat had moved her litter away from the curious eyes and hands of the children, but this little baby had been left behind.
That evening the little kitten traveled to the city home of the family and was fed with an eyedropper. It eagerly licked the milk from the dropper, but it took a long time until the kitten’s tummy was full, even with all the family taking turns. This little kitten had one great need - a mother to feed and care for it.
Then Brian’s friend, Matthew, came over and said that their cat had a new litter of kittens. Maybe, just maybe, their mother cat would take care of Brian and Lisa’s little kitten until it was old enough to eat regular cat food.
The three of them ran across the street with the little kitten to see if Matthew’s mother cat would accept a strange kitten in her box. The little kitten was placed on the floor where mama kitty was drinking a bowl of milk. She looked at the mewing kitten and moved right over and began cleaning it with her tongue. When mama kitty had finished, the children put the kitten into the box with the other kittens, and mama kitty climbed in and settled down, and they all began to eat hungrily. The mother cat began to clean all her babies again, including the new adopted one.
The three children watching mama kitty accept the lost kitten described a perfect picture of how lost and helpless you and I are in our sins. “Ye were without Christ . . . strangers . . . having no hope, and without God” (Ephesians 2:1212That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world: (Ephesians 2:12)). When we cry, “I’m lost; I’m helpless and need a Saviour,” no matter how weak our cry, God hears us. He reaches out in love and adopts us into His family, making us one of His very own children. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God” (1 John 3:11Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. (1 John 3:1)). When we receive Christ as our Saviour, we are “washed . . . from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)). “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)).
The little kitten could not feed itself and could not save its own life, and you and I are not able to save our own souls. There is no list of good things that we can do to save ourselves. The little kitten could not pay for its adoption, and neither can we. The kitten could only drink and live, and we can only believe and live. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet [helpless] sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)).
ML-06/27/2004