The agent from the Department of Forestry drove up to the house that had been raided by a bear. He was towing behind his pickup truck a large trap, suitable for catching bears and other wild animals. The trap looked like a long sewer pipe on wheels. One end was sealed off, and the other end had a spring-loaded gate that would snap shut once the bear crawled inside and touched the trigger hidden beneath the bait. Bears are used to crawling into caves and inside hollow trees, so a bear would not shy away from crawling into a long pipe.
The bear had probably worked its way down the mountains, looking for easier ways to find food. He had found it at this house. One night he had forced his way through a shed door, attracted by the smell of a barrel of apples. By the time he finished, he had eaten over two hundred apples. I wonder if bears get tummy aches!
The Forestry agent drove the truck into the backyard and unhitched the trap. All he needed to do now was to bait the trap.
“Do you have any apples left in that barrel?” he asked the lady of the house.
“Yes, but they have turned rotten because the bear bruised them,” she answered.
“Rotten apples will give off an odor the bear won’t be able to resist. I’d like to use them for bait.”
The Forestry agent had a large bucket which he partly filled with rotten apples. Then he unwrapped a carton of snack fruit pies and added them to the apples. Finally, he took a jar of honey and poured it into the bucket too. Then he mixed it all up with a stick.
The agent crawled inside the trap and carefully poured the contents of the bucket on top of the trigger that would spring the door shut. “That sweet bait ought to catch the bear,” he announced.
He told the lady to call him as soon as the bait and the trap did their work.
That night as the bear was making his rounds of the neighborhood looking for dinner, he smelled the tempting, sweet odor coming from the trap. He climbed in, and before he finished his first bite of the delicious bait, the gate slammed shut with a loud “CLANG”! When the bear realized he was trapped, he gave a loud moan and tried to shake the trap to get out of it. After a while he gave up trying to break out, ate the rest of the bait and fell asleep.
In the morning, the Forestry agent came back in his truck. As he and the homeowners looked at the bear inside the trap, the lady commented, “What a big round ball of fur he is!”
“He’s probably only a couple of years old,” said the agent. Then he hitched the trap to the back of the truck and drove twenty miles away to a wilderness area where he released the bear. They are hopeful it won’t bother humans again.
If that bear hadn’t been trapped and taken away from an area where people live, sooner or later there would have been trouble. Somebody might have shot the bear or it might have hurt someone. The bear is a lot safer in the wilderness, and the people are safer with him there.
God wants us to find safety by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. He knows each one of us will be in trouble if we don’t. He won’t force us to the safety of the Saviour’s side. But He does want you and me to know that He loves us and died for us, so that we will trust in the Lord Jesus.
God offers you the priceless gift of salvation to be received through faith in the Lord Jesus. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)). If you have not yet accepted God’s gift, please take the time to consider seriously His offer of salvation.
God’s way to attract the hearts of boys and girls is by His love and goodness, and for that reason He sent His Son. Nothing explains the love and goodness of God more than His sending His Son Jesus into the world where He would pay the penalty for sin on the cross and give up His life for you and me.
Won’t you consider God’s great goodness in sending His Son into this world and receive the gift of salvation He freely offers? The happy outcome will be an eternity in the safety of heaven with the Lord Jesus. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)).
ML-09/12/2004