On the outskirts of our city there are two large dairy farms. The Marysville farm is farther out the north end near the Naskwaak Valley. The other is a Holstein dairy farm, about four miles away and closer to the city.
One evening, the Holstein dairy farm brought their cows in for milking, and as they counted them, a strange cow followed the herd into the barn. This strange young cow, that we’ll call Daisy, was very frisky, so the farmer penned her in, hoping to find her owner. However, in a few minutes Daisy jumped over the pen and ran out into the open field to freedom.
A few days later, Daisy was sighted trotting around a large store parking lot and running back and forth across the streets. The news of this frisky cow on the loose appeared in the newspaper and on the radio, so everyone knew about the roaming cow.
The police took up the chase in hopes of capturing Daisy. Daisy’s real owner from the Marysville farm told the police that they could shoot her on sight. She was too wild and was a danger to the public.
However, it is a month later now and Daisy is still free. She can eat grass wherever she pleases, close to the woods like a deer. She seems to enjoy being wild. She doesn’t know that death could be in her near future.
You and I have hearts that love to be free to do whatever we please, without having to obey anybody. But like Daisy, death could be in the near future for any one of us; we don’t know what will happen tomorrow. The Bible warns, “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). And for anyone who doesn’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, death means the loss of a Saviour’s love and forgiveness and an eternity of everlasting punishment in outer darkness.
Each one of us is described in this Bible verse: “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him [Jesus] the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Are you willing to let Jesus find you, bring you back to His loving arms, and let Him wash away your sins? He is looking for you, not to harm you, but to save you, because He loves you so much.
“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
ML-08/23/2009