Lynn was awakened from a sound sleep by a loud noise on the porch. It sounded like big snowballs hitting the plastic that covered the screened-in porch during the winter. Soon the noise stopped and Lynn went back to sleep.
In the morning, Lynn went out onto the porch to investigate. She found a large hole ripped in the plastic and the screen. Feathers were all over the floor! Looking around, she found a large, frightened partridge huddled in the corner, trapped on the porch.
Looking over the bird, Lynn could see that it was nearly featherless in spots. It was in sad shape. And as the Lord Jesus looks down on this world He sees the sad results of sin. He sees the mess and unhappiness sin causes in the lives of each one of us.
The family’s pet bird had recently died, so Lynn carefully picked up the partridge and put it into the empty cage. The poor bird just sat there, filling almost every inch of the cage and looking sadder by the minute.
At first the bird would not eat or drink, but after a few hours it seemed to become used to the cage and ate a little food and looked a bit more cheerful. The family thought they might be able to keep it for a pet.
We are like the bird. We get used to our sins and they don’t bother us much anymore. We even come to like our “cage” and being Satan’s “pet.” The Bible tells us there is pleasure in sin, but only for a season—a very short time.
The partridge didn’t like the cage for long. After a couple of days the poor bird became frantic, trying to get out. He began to look so pitiful that the family decided they would have to let him go.
Even though the partridge had plenty of food and water in the cage, it was an unhappy bird because it was not free. Satan keeps sinners supplied with all kinds of pleasures, but that doesn’t make them happy. They need to be set free.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, loves sinners and came down to earth for one purpose—to die on Calvary’s cross to free the sinner from his sin. He has taken the punishment for sin.
Are you unhappy in your cage of sin, and do you really want to be free? All you need to do is accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, and He will set you free. John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36) assures us, “If the Son ... shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
The family took the cage outside, and Lynn opened it. For a few moments the partridge just sat there, not seeming to realize that it was free. Then it understood and flew straight up out of that confining cage into the clear blue sky, a free and happy bird.
In Psalm 124:7,87Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. 8Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. (Psalm 124:7‑8) David tells those who have trusted in the Lord Jesus for salvation, “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers [trappers]: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.”
Have you escaped from your cage of sin?—have you accepted the salvation the Lord Jesus Christ lovingly offers you?
ML 10/14/1990