Would you like to be friendly with a lizard? Yuck! At least that’s what many of us would say! Lizards aren’t usually considered to be beautiful or nice to pet, and most of us are happy to stay away from them. But not Joey and John. These two brothers like all of God’s creatures and have had ordinary pets like birds, fish and a rabbit, but also some unusual ones like a llama and a lizard!
Joey and John first found the lizard when they came to visit us in Texas. They carefully caught it, put it in a plastic container with holes in the top to let the air in, gave it grass and food, and named it Sam.
“Let it go,” we said. “It will just die.”
“No way!” the boys said. “We’re taking Sam home to Michigan!”
When they left for Michigan, we promptly forgot about Sam the lizard, but Joey and John didn’t. Sam was well cared for by his new friends. They gave him food and water and a nice new home -a cage with plastic sides. They didn’t always just leave Sam home alone. Once one of the boys even took the lizard to Sunday school! (Sam behaved himself and stayed right on Joey’s shoulder the whole time.)
A whole year later, Joey and John and their family came again to visit us in Texas. When they got to our house, the boys came in all smiles with news of their trip . . . and with Sam! We had been sure the lizard would die, so we could hardly believe our eyes! After all, who would take care of an ugly lizard for a whole year? Joey and John, that’s who!
The boys have learned to be kind to God’s creatures, as I hope you are. And they have also learned that God cared for us when we were “ugly” in our sins. Bad words, lies, pride and other sins made us “unlovely” in God’s eyes, but the Bible tells us that “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)). Jesus shed His precious blood to clean away those ugly sins and give us eternal life, if we will come to Him, admitting we are sinners.
When Sam the lizard came back to Texas, the two brothers needed someone to look after their pet for about four days since their family was staying in a hotel while they looked for a house to rent. They guessed that lizards might not be welcome in the hotel.
Poor Sam. Suddenly he was left with us, a family who is just a bit squeamish about looking for the type of food a lizard eats -insects, worms, etc. I’m sorry to tell you that in those busy four days that we kept Sam, we completely forgot about him and never fed him once! He was, however, none the worse, and when Joey and John once again carried him home, to our relief, they didn’t even scold us for our neglect.
Sam would never be really happy though, not even with the good care the boys gave him. Sam was a wild lizard and what he enjoyed most was freedom. As much as the boys enjoyed Sam, they knew that he would really like to be free to run in the trees and in the grass and to find his own food. So after a few weeks in Texas, the boys took Sam back to the place they had first found him and opened the cage. Sam was free!
Have you ever thought about how much you like to be free? Just try telling any boy that he must stay in a certain chair and not get up, and you’ll soon see how much that boy likes to be free. But if you have never come to the Lord Jesus for salvation, then you are not truly free. You are chained with your sins and are not free to enjoy all the good things that God wants to give you. You cannot free yourself from your sins and you cannot stop sinning. The Bible says, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:3232And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32)). “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)).
Come to the Lord Jesus today for salvation, and He will set you free from the chains of your sin.
Joey and John still sometimes look for Sam to see if they can get a glimpse of their old pet lizard, but they haven’t tried to catch him again. Sam is enjoying being free.
Are you?
ML-02/18/1996