I never knew much about weasels, but when I visited Mr. Thomas out in the country in southern Maine, I found out why they aren’t liked very much by farmers.
Mr. Thomas had recently gotten four laying hens, which were just enough to supply eggs for his family. The chicken coop was built with thin slits to let air in and with windows to let the light in. The chickens seemed safe and happy and were each laying an egg a day.
One day, Bobby and Richard were asked to go feed the chickens, which they did. However they forgot to close the door when they left. Later that day someone found the chickens out, roaming around near the barn . . . all but one, that is. She apparently had wandered away and was never found again.
The next day when Mr. Thomas went to the coop to check on his hens, everything looked all right, until he opened the door. It had been closed tightly and fastened, but to his surprise one of the hens was lying on the floor dead.
He picked her up and noticed that she seemed lighter in weight than normal. Very strange! Looking over the hen, he found the feathers had been plucked from her neck and there were slits where an animal had sucked out the chicken’s blood, which, of course, killed it. This was a new and sad experience for Mr. Thomas. Now he knew what had happened to the chicken which had wandered away. He had lost two chickens in 24 hours to the little animal known as the weasel. The weasel is able to squeeze through even a very small opening, as small as slits in a chicken coop, to catch its victim. It is a destroyer that looks for easy victims.
After that Mr. Thomas let his dog out at night instead of keeping it in the house. He also got himself a barnyard cat. Since then, there have been no more lost chickens. He often wondered what happened to that sneaky weasel.
You and I also have an enemy that is just as sneaky and dangerous as the weasel. His name is Satan, and the Bible calls him “the destroyer” (1 Corinthians 10:10), the one who walks around “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is also called “that old serpent” (Revelation 12:99And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)) because he sneaks around, using trickery to catch his victims.
But what a wonderful thing it is that the Lord Jesus came into the world to defeat Satan. Though we have all strayed and wandered away, the Lord Jesus loves us and can save us. “The Son of Man [the Lord Jesus] is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them” (Luke 9:5656For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. (Luke 9:56)). He died on Calvary’s cross to bear our sins and to bring us to God. God tells us in the Bible that Jesus is the victor over Satan. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57). What a wonderful Saviour the Lord Jesus is. How good it is to trust in Him and stay in safety near His side each day. “But whoso hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil” (Proverbs 1:3333But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. (Proverbs 1:33)).
ML-11/07/1999