IN THE hospital of the Ventnor Sanatorium there are many used chimneys, and during the summertime the jackdaws build their nests and rear their young in them.
One morning a great flutter was heard in one of the chimneys and down came a little jackdaw. He was very dirty, and his eyes were full of soot. I picked him up, washed him, and took care of him, feeding him with dainty bits of my own food. He became quite attached to me and would follow me about the grounds like a little dog.
At night I kept him in a nice wooden shed, and each morning I took him for a walk on the large lawn. He knew my footsteps so well that on my approach he would call out, “Jack, Jack.”
Jack became very obedient too, and I wondered if he had learned a lesson from his fall down the chimney. No doubt his parents had warned him that if he got too near to the edge of the nest and looked down, he could fall down that long dark chimney perhaps to his death. What a mercy he did not fall into the hands of the gardeners, for they would have killed him. Well it was for him that he came into the hands of one who loved birds.
How this reminds us of our first parents in the garden of Eden when they disobeyed God and fell into the hands of Satan, man’s great enemy, and were lost. Yes, lost to God, thus bringing them into captivity to sin and death. But God loved His creature, man, and at once sought Adam out and called to him and said, “Where art thou?” (Gen. 3: 9). And God in love is still calling to men and women, boys and girls, to repent of their sin and disobedience. In fact it is written, “God.... now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Acts 17:3030And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30).
God gave His only begotten Son, the ever obedient One, to die for us. That holy One suffered all the judgment we deserved, so that He might bring us to God, redeemed by His precious blood. Are you one of His redeemed ones, of whom God says, “Thou art Mine"? One of the believer’s greatest joys is to know that he belongs to God.
One night we had a terrible storm; it thundered and the lightning flashed all around, so that many trembled with fear. Next morning when I approached Jack’s shed he did not call, and when I opened the door I found that he had gone. The storm must have frightened him; he got out through a small hole in the shed and was lost. How I felt the loss of my little bird!
I searched for him diligently and offered a reward for his return. The doctor and hospital staff were all concerned about him too.
And God is more concerned about us than we perhaps think. He gave His Son that we might be ransomed through His blood, for “The Son of man came... to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:4545For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45).
Well, I did not give up hope. At last I found him after a long search. Poor Jack looked so dejected; his feathers were all wet, and he was hungry. But there was real joy at the hospital when everyone knew that Jack was found. It is just like the Shepherd in Luke 15 who sought for the lost sheep, and what joy there was when it was found!
When I left the hospital I brought Jack home with me. He had his liberty, but he never went astray again. He was loved and cared for until he died. And we who are saved through the Lord Jesus Christ have eternal life, which we shall soon share with Him in the glory.
— Good News for Young and Old
ML-11/28/1971