We decided to hatch some chicken and duck eggs since we now had an incubator. Soon we had quite a flock of ducklings, but only one little chick hatched and lived. Since the little birds had been hatched in an incubator, they didn’t have a mother to look after them. They all stayed very close together for comfort and protection. The one chick, which turned out to be a rooster, thought he was a part of the duck family.
One day when a strange dog came to visit, the ducklings all headed for the safety of the pond. The little rooster, who was in the middle of the flock, went in too. But he discovered right away that the pond was no place for him. You see, he really wasn’t a duck and it wasn’t his nature to swim, so he immediately came out of the water. He looked unhappy and tried his best to shake his feathers dry.
After that we put a board across the pond, and the rooster would pace impatiently back and forth on the board while the ducks were swimming and diving and having a good time. It was their nature to enjoy the water.
Ducks and chickens are two different kinds of birds with two different natures. And there are two different kinds of people in this world. There are people who are saved from their sins, and there are people who are lost in their sins. If the Lord Jesus has washed you clean in His precious blood, then you are saved from your sins, and God has given you a new, eternal life. But if the Lord Jesus has not washed away your sins, you are still lost in them, and you have only the sinful human nature you were born with.
The summer passed happily and the ducks and rooster acted as though they were one big family. They did everything together (except swimming!) and got along well. But when the fall rains came the rooster didn’t like that at all. While the ducks paraded through the rain drops without a care, he would run for the shelter of a nearby tree or try to hide under anything that would keep him dry.
Now if you are saved from your sins and have the new life, you will love the water of God’s Word, the Bible. Ephesians 5:25-2625Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (Ephesians 5:25‑26) tells us “Christ . . . loved the church [which is made up of those who have eternal life], and gave Himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.” But if you still have only the old, sinful nature, you will not enjoy reading the Bible. It tells you that you are a sinner and need the Saviour to forgive your sins.
Winter came with its cold snow. The ducks would fluff out their feathers and settle down to sleep in the snow with their heads tucked under their wings. But the rooster couldn’t do that and hated even to get his feet in the snow. We built him a little shelter, but still it was too cold. The nature he was born with could not protect him from the cold of winter, and he finally died.
Our hearts were sad for the poor rooster, but we’d be much sadder if one of our readers did not have the new life they need to go to heaven. If you haven’t come to the Lord Jesus and confessed that you are a guilty sinner and received from Him life eternal, the very nature and life of Christ that will make you happy and ready for heaven, please do it now. God loves you, and He sent His only Son into this world to die for sinners. There on the cross Christ made Himself responsible for all the sins of anyone who will believe in Him. “Therefore 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)).
We couldn’t give our rooster a duck’s nature, but the Lord Jesus can give you a life suitable for heaven. Do you have it?
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