The leopard is a member of the “big cat” family. Some others are the lion, panther and jaguar. A full-grown leopard is a beautiful animal, with a dark background color, but the dark circular spots shaped like rosettes all over its body can still be seen. Both its teeth and claws are long and sharp. A male may weigh up to 198 pounds and can be more than seven feet long from its nose to the end of its tail. A female weighs up to 132 pounds and is not as long as the male.
The leopard’s strength is unbelievable! When cornered, it can fight another animal well beyond its weight and size. This was seen in one of the zoos in Chicago a number of years ago.
In the “lion house” at this zoo, a pair of large leopards had a cage with both an inside and an outside area. Next to the leopard cage was a cage with three young lions in it. Their cage also had an inside and an outside area, but both areas were separate from the leopards’ areas.
One day while the leopards and lions were outside in their own separate areas, the keeper was cleaning the inside cages. When he finished, he forgot to close the door between the leopards’ and lions’ inside cages.
When the animals went back in, the lions soon found the door open into the leopards’ cage and attacked the two leopards. A terrible fight began!
The three lions charged the two leopards. The attack was met by the male leopard. Keeping his body between his mate and the lions, he fought savagely. The snarling and growling of the leopards mixed with the roars of the lions increased as they sparred and tore at each other, until the building almost shook with the noise of the fight.
The keepers tried to stop the fight by spraying water from fire hoses directly at the fighting animals. Finally, with the help of the hoses, the keepers forced the lions back and into their own cage. The door was closed and locked.
The noise ended and the fight was over, but it was too late for the male leopard. His back was broken during the fight, and he died shortly after. Yet he had fought so fiercely protecting his mate that the keepers found she was almost unharmed.
In a far more wonderful way, the Lord Jesus Christ died to save all who would believe in Him. There on the cross He endured Satan’s power, but of more importance, He endured God’s punishment against sin—our sins. The Lord Jesus did not sin and could not sin. He died for sinners like you and me, taking the punishment for any sinner who would accept Him as his or her Savior. How great is His love! “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
We did not love Him—He loved us! For those of us who know Him as our Savior, His love came to where we were and saved us. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Will you accept His love and let Him be your Savior?
MEMORY VERSE: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
ML-08/26/2018