It was springtime and the little song sparrow, harbinger of warmer days to come, was singing sweetly in the nearby tree.
Tom had made a slingshot and went out in the fields this day to try it out. Looking around for something to shoot at, he spied the little song sparrow perched in the top of the tree, quite unconscious of approaching danger.
Tom crept softly under the tree until he stood directly under the little songster. Taking careful aim, he pulled the rubber which he had loaded with a stone and struck the poor little bird squarely in the breast. Down it came tumbling and lay dead at Tom’s feet.
Tom had been taught by his Christian parents to fear God and His Word, and instantly he remembered that verse: “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father... fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matt. 10:29, 3129Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. (Matthew 10:29)
31Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:31))
Tom felt terribly sorry at the thought of what he had done to one of God’s little creatures. With tears in his eyes he picked up the dead song sparrow, still warm, pressed it to his breast saying to himself, “Oh, if only I could give back the life I took!”
But that was impossible. Only God can give life. Never again did Tom shoot at a little bird.
What Tom could not do, God has done in a far more wonderful way for poor dead and dying sinners. We read in Rom. 5:1212Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (Romans 5:12): “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
ML-05/07/1978