Police Sergeant William Boaz saw the injured hawk standing on the road. He radioed headquarters, telling them what he had discovered and then pulled his squad car over to the side of the road. Getting out, he stood in the road and directed traffic around the injured bird.
Soon the animal- control officer arrived and pulled over. He got out a large net and an animal carrier. The two men gently lowered the net over the bird and then coaxed it into the carrier. The animal-control officer then drove the hawk to a wildlife center.
Erica Miller, the veterinarian at the wildlife center, examined the red-tailed hawk, a beautiful bird. She quickly found that it had a serious open wound in its neck and that one of the main feathers in its left wing was broken off. She could only guess that it had been hit by a car.
The hawk’s neck wound was so serious that it could not heal by itself. Without Erica’s help the bird would die. She loved birds and animals, and being a veterinarian she also had the skills to help injured birds and animals recover. There is Someone who loves boys and girls, too. His name is the Lord Jesus, and He understands all about our sickness of sin. The Bible tells us that He is the One who can save boys and girls from their sins. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:2121And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)).
Erica put the bird to sleep so she could sew up the deep wound in its neck. After that, the bird could only drink liquids for a few days while its neck healed.
The next repair job was that broken feather. The hawk could not fly without it. Erica thought about the problem and came up with an idea. A few weeks earlier she had worked on another red-tailed hawk that had been badly injured. She had not been able to save its life, but she had kept some of its beautiful wing feathers. She hoped she could use one of its feathers to replace this hawk’s broken feather.
Erica and one of the wildlife keepers worked together. They spread the wing out and clipped off the broken feather near its base. Then they glued a straw-like piece of bamboo over the stub. After the glue had dried Erica placed the new feather into the other end of the bamboo. It looked perfect and would be strong enough to last until a new feather would grow after the hawk molted.
The red-tailed hawk that had died could not know that one of its feathers was given to another bird so it could fly again. But when it comes to the matter of removing our sins, the Lord Jesus knew exactly what it would cost Him. It was only His blood that could wash our sins away. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)). He loves you and me so much He went to Calvary’s cross and died for us. Who can understand love like this!
Three weeks later, after the hawk was healthy again, Erica and one of the keepers placed the bird in a carrier and drove it to a nearby forest preserve. The keeper took the bird out of the carrier and let it perch on his arm. How thrilled and happy they were as they watched it flap its wings and fly up into the sky out of sight.
What a happy ending to the story of the injured hawk. And your life can be happy now and have a happy ending too. You can be healed from your sins. The Lord Jesus loves you and will wash every one of your sins away in His own blood if you will come to Him. He says, “Come unto Me” (Matthew 11:2828Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matthew 11:28)), and “him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)).
ML-02/23/1997