What fun! Robins were building their nest in a tree we could see clearly from our kitchen window, and we would be able to watch them as they raised their babies. One thing we were afraid of - our big orange cat, Pumpkin, was watching them too. The conversation at our supper table was often about what we were going to do with the cat while the baby robins were learning to fly. We could tell from the feathers lying around our yard that Pumpkin had already caught quite a few birds, and we were especially concerned now about the baby robins. But our heavenly Father cares more for little birds than we do. Luke 12:66Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God? (Luke 12:6) says, “Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?” He already had a plan better than any we could have worked out.
We watched while the mother and father robins took turns sitting on the eggs until they hatched and then while they busily gathered worms to feed their four hungry chicks. As the chicks’ naked bodies gradually grew feathers, the day was coming closer when they would have to learn to fly.
The very day they left the nest we noticed that the cat didn’t come to eat his cat food. And that night he didn’t sleep in his usual place on the rocking chair on the front porch. The next day he was missing too.
That first day the robin parents had urged their babies to come out of the nest. First they hopped onto a tree branch, then from the branch to a bush, and then from the bush to the ground. There they hopped around in the grass, and their mother fed them worms. But they couldn’t fly. So if Pumpkin had been there, he could easily have caught them all. But he wasn’t there. We didn’t know where he was, but as the week went by we began to worry about him. He had never stayed away so long before. But at the same time we were glad the little robins were having such a good chance to learn to fly. By the end of the week they were flying as well as their parents.
Then one night we heard a faint “mew, mew.” When we opened the door, there was Pumpkin with his orange fur all caked with mud. He could hardly wait for us to fill his dishes with food and water. When he had finished eating, he lay down and rolled around and purred and rubbed himself against us all.
Pumpkin was home again, and the baby robins had already learned to fly. We were very happy to see how the Lord had worked things out for both the cat and the birds.
But you are of more value than any cat or many robins. The Lord Jesus loves you so much He died so you could have your sins washed away in His precious blood. Won’t you accept His love by coming to Him and telling Him you are a sinner and that you want to be saved from your sins? “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)). “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:55And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (Revelation 1:5)).
ML-05/09/1999