As I sit looking out on the little lake that is behind our house, I see several families of geese. The ganders (fathers) swim in front, followed by their goslings in a straight line, with the hens (mothers) bringing up the rear. These are Canada geese—large birds that are black and gray with a white chinstrap—beautiful birds. They have been coming back here in springtime for years to build their nests, lay their eggs and raise their goslings on the grasses and lawns surrounding the lakes.
But there is something unusual about one of these families. The leader of one family is a snow goose. He is all white with black wing tips. Some years ago, through some mix-up, he came back in the spring with the Canada geese. They seem to accept him as one of their own. He doesn’t seem to know that he is different, but he demands a place of higher rank in the pecking order.
I suspect that there are many so-called Christians who are not true Christians at all. They enjoy the company of believers, attending meetings and Sunday schools and singing the gospel songs. However, they have never admitted that they are sinners and placed their trust in the saving power of the Lord Jesus Christ to wash their sins away in His precious blood. To us they seem to be saved, but to God they stand out like the snow goose. “The Lord [knows] them that are His” (2 Timothy 2:1919Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. (2 Timothy 2:19)). Have you truly placed your trust in the finished work of Christ and thanked Him for saving you? Or are you a bluffer, like the snow goose?
The snow goose may select a mate, and she may make a nest and lay eggs. But, because they are different species, a cross between a snow goose and a Canada goose is not possible, so the eggs never hatch.
What happens next is the worst fighting and fussing you have ever heard from geese. We can hear the higher pitched shrieks of the snow goose above the noise of the others, often with gander wings beating one another. Usually the snow goose drives off one of the weaker ganders, and he wins as the head of the weaker gander’s family. The snow goose claims the family just as if it were his own. The goslings don’t seem to know the difference, and they follow the white gander, with their own mother behind them. He has stolen a family!
If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you have an enemy who would like to steal your heart! Satan will try to set the attractions of this world in your heart to take away your love for the things of the Lord Jesus. Proverbs 23:2626My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. (Proverbs 23:26) pleads, “My son, give Me thine heart.” The psalmist gives good instruction: “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee” (Psalm 119:1111Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)).
I feel sorry for the gander that lost his family. He often follows at a distance, sometimes calling out to his mate, but he gets no answering call. Boys and girls, be careful that your heart is not stolen from the Lord Jesus. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:1515Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 John 2:15)).
ML-06/17/2012