Mr. Carl is a firefighter. One day his station got a call from an upset cat owner. Mrs. Hutchin’s cat was up in one of her trees and would not come down, even with much coaxing. The fire department has a rule that they follow. They are willing to help cat owners with this kind of a problem as long as no other calls come in needing help with fire or medical related issues. These problems would get help first. So the way was clear for Mr. Carl and the other firefighters to head over to Mrs. Hutchin’s house.
Sure enough, there was Tina the cat high up in an evergreen tree. Mr. Carl’s coworker, Mr. Tim, put the ladder up and also was very sure to put on his heavy-duty, long, leather gloves he uses for catching animals. He started climbing the ladder, and Tina was not happy to see him coming! She hissed at him as he came closer. He reached out to pick her up and she hissed again and tried to scratch him with her claws. Then she climbed up the tree a little higher. It was impossible now for Mr. Tim to reach her even with his high ladder.
The men down below decided to throw a rope up to Mr. Tim so he could make a loop and toss it over the top of the tree. This way they could pull the top of the tree over from below until the cat was within easy reach for Mr. Tim.
At first it looked as though this was going to work. Then suddenly the top of the tree broke and flew off, and poor Tina was hurled into the air and landed out of sight some backyards away! Mr. Tim came down from his ladder empty handed, and the men had no idea what happened to Tina or if she even survived her flight. She was nowhere to be found!
Three days later, Mrs. Hutchins came to the Fire Station with a plate of cookies. She thanked the men for their efforts and told them that Tina had returned home just that morning. She reported that Tina seemed perfectly fine and healthy, even after her unwelcome flight and landing.
Boys and girls, this story reminds me that perhaps there are some of you who are like Tina the cat. You are in need of someone to save you from your dangerous, helpless, hopeless situation—you are in need of the Savior of sinners!
Many of you know the story of how the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came into this world to rescue and save us from our sins. He sacrificed so much! He reaches out to you, and you only run away from Him. When He was here on earth, the Bible says, “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John 1:11). Not only did they not receive Him, but they also hated Him and nailed Him on a cruel cross to die.
Boys and girls, don’t be like Tina! Don’t refuse God’s outstretched arms of love or you too will be cast out . . . not to flying through the air to an unknown landing, but to a terrible place of everlasting punishment that was only meant for the devil and his angels.
Oh, come to the Savior now before it is forever too late! He loves you and waits for you with outstretched arms. He says, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
MEMORY VERSE: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28