MANY are very fond of hunting just for the sport it gives them. They think not of the suffering their fun is giving to the poor creatures they shoot, and the sadness it brings to the parent birds that are left, or in other instances the little ones who are left, sometimes too young to take care of themselves.
God has given these creatures for man’s use or food, and it is all right to kill them for food, if we need them, but to kill them just for sport will never meet with God’s approval.
In our picture this week, we see the man in the distance, who has evidently shot the little bird that lies in the foreground of the picture, and now the dog is just about ready to take it up in his mouth and carry it to his master. The little bird did not know what happened, its suffering may have been for only a short time; but whether long or short, it makes me think of that Scripture, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.”—Rom. 8:2222For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (Romans 8:22). All the groaning and all the pain, is the result of sin coming into the world. Had sin not come in, all would have been perfect and beautiful; and the time is coming, when the Lord Jesus will reign, and “The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption.”—Rom. 8:2121Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (Romans 8:21). That will be in the Millennium. But even then, all shall not be perfect, for man will still have the fallen nature, and some will sin and will die on account of it, but after that God will make all things new and man will never sin any more. That, dear reader, will all be brought about through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He gained the victory over death, which is the result of sin, and He has not only put the sin of the believer away before God, but He will yet take away all sin. “BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD, WHICH TAKETH AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD.” —John 1:2929The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29).
May you never take any delight in killing God’s creatures or causing them pain in any way.
ML 08/05/1906