STEVE AND JIM were having fun on the ocean beach, playing in the big waves as they came rolling in.
Suddenly Steve called out, “Look at this queer fish.” They were just in time to see a small creature, the size of a coconut, with several long tentacles, or arms, before it disappeared. It sent out an inky fluid which helped it to escape into the deeper water.
“It was a squid,” said Jack, an old sailor who had just happened along at that time. “I have seen their big cousins, the octopus, in many seas, and fierce creatures they are.”
“Are they dangerous?” asked Jim.
“Dangerous? I should say they are,” went on the old salt. “We sailors didn’t like them. They are very strong, and one of the bigger fellows, with a body perhaps the size of a football and with arms over four feet long, is powerful enough to hold down and drown two or three men at once.
“The octopus swims backward, or opens its mouth and sends out a stream of water with such force that the creature is forced through the seas with its arms sagging bind. It’s a weird, ugly monster, with its parrot-like beak, and its terrible arms covered on the under side with round suckers.
“Now boys,” continued old Jack, “can you tell me of another monster that is mentioned in the Bible and which we are warned against?”
“Is it sin you mean?” asked Steve.
“Yes, you’ve got the right answer. Sin is a deadly thing, and from it come many powerful evils, like the tentacles of the octopus. From sin come anger, malice, bitterness, hate, lies, dishonesty, sorrow, sickness, death. But there is a remedy for sin. Can you tell me what it is?”
“Yes sir, the blood of Jesus.”
“That’s right! The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin.’ Never forget, boys, that this is the only remedy for sin, and it is free to all.”
" ‘The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ God bless you, boys!”
ML-04/25/1976