Our bird, Joey, is a cockatiel. Cockatiels are small parrots. Joey is gray and white with a cute yellow head. Most of the time he just chirps away to show how happy he is. He knows a few words, and when he talks it’s rather funny to hear. He has quite a throaty little voice. Anyone not knowing what words he could say would find it hard to understand him.
One day somebody in the family, without realizing it, opened the back door while Joey was out of his cage. And wouldn’t you know, Joey flew right out the door! We were all horrified, of course. We all knew that a bird out of its cage and out of doors is very hard to catch.
We ran outside and found him in our backyard tree. Our father got a ladder to get him down with, but just as he climbed within reach, Joey flew off again.
We chased Joey all over the neighborhood for two or three hours. We tried holding up his cage when he perched on a store roof with a bunch of pigeons. Joey wasn’t interested. We called him and called him, holding out a finger for him to land on. But that didn’t work either. Joey was enjoying his freedom!
Sometimes boys and girls are like Joey. It’s fun to be out doing whatever you want, not caring what your parents think or what God thinks. But God loves you and always knows what’s best for you. Just as Joey didn’t know what trouble to expect out in the big city, boys and girls don’t know what trouble is ahead either. They are almost sure to meet troubles if they don’t accept the Lord Jesus as Saviour and Master of their lives. Joey was out enjoying his freedom, but he didn’t know that soon it would be not only dark, but cold. Joey’s happiness was not going to last.
We soon lost sight of Joey. Sadly we gave up hope and stopped looking for him. All of us went back home... and then we decided we still had one hope left — we prayed, asking the Lord Jesus to send our pet bird back. He knew that Joey was lost and alone out there in the cold, and we knew that if the Lord Jesus wanted us to have Joey back, He could bring him back to us. “Things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:2727And he said, The things which are impossible with men are possible with God. (Luke 18:27).
The next day, after praying again each time we looked at Joey’s empty cage, someone called on the telephone asking for Mother. “You don’t know me,” were the first words he said. Then he explained that he had our Joey safe in his home, five blocks away from our house. He had found our poor, tired, hungry, lost little bird in a tree in his backyard that morning. He had climbed up a ladder, talked soothingly to him for ten minutes, then carried Joey down in a baseball cap.
Of course, we went to pick Joey up that very day, and you can be sure we thanked the Lord Jesus for giving us our pet back again.
We remembered how Joey wouldn’t let us anywhere near him, and yet this kind man went to the trouble of climbing up his tree and then gently lifted this strange little bird into his hat to carry him back down. We could only think of how the Lord Jesus had once again solved a problem in His special way. The chances of catching a lost pet bird are pretty slim. We had the feeling that if God hadn’t been looking after Joey on his long adventure around that big, busy city, we would have lost him forever.
Are you forgetting God and following what you think looks fun and exciting? You may not think of it as a mistake now, but you will change your mind when it turns dark and cold. The happiness sin gives does not last. One of the reasons Joey probably let that kind man recapture him was because he was tired, bewildered and hungry. His freedom wasn’t fun anymore. He was an unhappy little bird. Only real freedom from your sins through trusting the Lord Jesus Christ will bring lasting happiness in your life. “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.” John 8:3636If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36). “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers [sin]: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.” Psalms 124:77Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. (Psalm 124:7).
The Lord Jesus loves you and is lovingly reaching out to you. Won’t you let Him save you? “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Psalms 34:88O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8).
ML-01/29/1989