Have you ever heard of an animal called a pocket gopher? We live in the Midwestern United States, and we have them in our area. Pocket gophers are small, brown animals with sharp teeth and claws that they use to dig their tunnels and make underground homes. They are considered a pest and do a lot of damage with their digging habits.
We live just outside the city limits and have a big yard that provides a lot of fun for our grandchildren to play in. One day, our youngest granddaughter, five-year-old Maci, came to spend the night with us. It was a warm, spring evening, and we were outside playing while Papa was working on some outdoor projects. Suddenly he said, “Maci, come look at what happened in our yard!”
Maci asked, “What happened, Papa?”
Papa took her over to the mound of fresh dirt he had discovered right next to a small, deep tunnel. After telling Maci what the dirt was from and why that tunnel was there, he told her that we needed to trap the gopher that dug the tunnel! He explained that he didn’t want it to dig up any more of the lawn. Besides that, gophers sometimes chew into underground wires and make a lot of trouble for homeowners!
Papa knew he had some old gopher traps in the garage, so he and Maci went looking for one. Papa asked Maci if she would like to help him, and she decided that it would be a good idea to be his helper. There is a Bible verse that says, “By love serve [or help] one another” (Galatians 5:1313For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. (Galatians 5:13)). We can apply that to our parents and brothers and sisters, but we can also apply that to our grandparents. Maci was very willing to help Papa with this chore. It involved setting the small wooden trap with a wire device. Then the set trap had to be placed just inside the hole at the beginning of the tunnel going into the ground. Maci’s job was to keep checking to see if the gopher was still in the hole or running away from the hole as Papa worked to set the trap in the best spot. When they finished the job, it was close to bedtime, so we all went inside for bath time, story time, prayer time and then sleep time.
The next morning was a school day. I woke Maci up to get ready for her school day. Papa had not left for work yet, and he said to Maci, “Can you go outside before you leave for school to see if we caught that gopher in our trap?” Maci and I walked over to the area and looked into the tunnel . . . and what did we see? That little gopher had gotten caught in the trap, and there was no way he could get free!
Isn’t that just like sin, boys and girls? It can trap little people, and big people too, in a sin that they can’t get away from. Some people die because of a terrible sin, and others are sent to jail because of a sin they have committed. Proverbs 5:22That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge. (Proverbs 5:2)2 Says, “He shall be holden with the cords of his sins.” That sounds just like the little gopher that was caught in that wooden trap!
There are many different kinds of sins in this world we live in. But we each can be saved from all our sins by the Lord Jesus Christ who loves us so much He died for us. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
Maci and I had to leave to get to school on time, and Papa was able to get rid of the caught gopher before he left for the day as well. While the animal was just doing what it does naturally, we as sinners also do bad things because of our sin nature. We can have a new nature by accepting the Lord Jesus as our Savior. He will make all things new for us. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:1717Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)). Then we can please God and know that the Lord Jesus, who loved us and died in our place, will take us to His happy home in heaven when this life is over.
ML-09/30/2018