TRUDY and her little brother Nickey lived with their daddy and mommy in a little farmhouse near the road on the outskirts of town. They had a little pet goat whom they called Mary Ann.
Mary Ann was a great favorite. Nicky was too small to go to school and he spent many a happy hour playing with Mary Ann while waiting for Trudy to come home from school. Mary Ann had a nice straw bed in the stable and she supplied the family with milk. She had a little collar around her neck and often times on sunny days she would be staked out on the green grass or allowed to run in the pasture.
But one day when Trudy came home from school Mary Ann was nowhere to be found. Trudy and Nicky looked all up and down the lane. She wasn’t in the pasture. When Daddy came home, he too went to hunt for Mary Ann. They saw the stake in the ground but Mary Ann was nowhere to be seen.
The next day Mother sent Trudy and Nicky to the village store for groceries. While Nicky stood looking out the store window, he saw a very old horse pulling a very funny yellow wagon down the street. The wagon looked like a house on wheels and there were little windows in it. A man walked alongside the wagon; his clothes were old and raggedy. He had a big black moustache and wore an old black hat. He had a whip in his hand and didn’t look at all like a nice man.
Nicky watched the wagon go by. Then he saw something... behind the wagon fastened by a rope, so that she had to go along was... all of a sudden Nicky shouted, ‘Mary Ann! Mary Ann!”
Both Nicky and Trudy ran out of the store down the street, after the wagon. Yes, it was Mary Ann!
“Mary Ann! Mary Ann!” Trudy called.
The little goat heard her. She wanted to stop. She wanted to turn her head and look around but she couldn’t. That hard rope was around her neck and tied to the wagon and she was being pulled along.
“Mary Ann! Mary Ann!”
“Maaah! Maaah!” the little goat answered. She pulled and tugged at the rope trying to get loose. But the man with the whip kicked her. “Get along, you!” he said in a very rough voice.
“Mary Ann! Mary Ann!” the children called out.
The little goat pulled hard trying to get loose. The man angrily swung his whip toward Trudy and Nicky. “Go way!” he shouted, “and leave my goat alone!” Then he snapped the whip and hit poor Mary Ann. Trudy and Nicky began to cry.
And then — a motorcycle with a policeman came roaring down the road and stopped. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
“Those youngsters are teasing my goat!” said the man angrily.
“Oh no, sir!” Trudy stammered. “It’s Mary Ann. She’s our own goat. We couldn’t find her yesterday and... there she is!”
“Get up!” called the man to his horse. And he kicked at the goat again. “Hurry up!” He wanted to get away as fast as he could.
The policeman saw the tears in Trudy’s and Nicky’s eyes and took in the situation. He said to the man with the whip, “Just come along with me to headquarters.”
The chief of police was surprised to see them come. He came out and looked at them. “Whose goat is that?” he asked.
“Mine!” said the man, with the whip.
“No, no! She is ours!” insisted Trudy and Nicky.
The chief shook his head. “Who must I believe?” he asked. Then he did something that Trudy and Nicky thought was very strange. He told them to go to one corner of the building and the rough man he told to go to the other corner of the building.
Then he told the policeman to unloose Mary Ann and to put his hands over her eyes. Now he said, “You must take turns calling the goat. Let the man call her first, and then the children will call her.”
The man grumbled something and then called out, “Come here to your master, girl; come here, don’t you hear me?” But Mary Ann did not even listen. She only sniffed at the policeman’s hand.
“Now let the children try it,” said the chief.
“Mary Ann! Come here to us!” The two children called out together. As soon as she heard their voices, the little goat turned and ran tards them. A moment later both Trudy and Nicky had their arms around her neck. It would be hard to say who was the happiest — the children or Mary Ann. To make a long story short, the two children were soon running down the street towards home with Mary Ann gamboling alongside. The man was tried and went to jail for stealing.
We were all like the little goat, dear boys and girls, taken captive by Satan at his will. We were chained by our own sins and could not free ourselves. Neither Trudy nor Nicky could help Mary Ann. And “None... can by any means redeem his brother.” Psa. 44:77But thou hast saved us from our enemies, and hast put them to shame that hated us. (Psalm 44:7). But there was one who can save. “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:1515This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (1 Timothy 1:15). He died to set us free.
If you are still a captive to sin and Satan, cry to the Lord Jesus to deliver you. He will hear your cry and will not turn you away. “Whoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Rom. 10:1313For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13). Perhaps you do not realize your need of Him; but oh, that you might realize that you are being dragged down the road to death and judgment. The Lord Jesus says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will answer thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.” Psa. 50:1515And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. (Psalm 50:15).
ML-01/04/1976