When I was nine years old, we lived on a cattle ranch in the western part of Texas. There were lots of coyotes on the prairies, so my dad bought a Greyhound dog to protect the calves from the coyotes. Greyhounds are very large dogs with long legs, and they are fast runners. We named him Blackie. When he wasn’t chasing coyotes, he liked to chase rabbits.
It was fun to watch Blackie chase a jackrabbit. The rabbit would lay back both ears and run for its life, with the dog at its heels.
I noticed there were many badger holes, haystacks, granaries and even hollow logs where jackrabbits could have hidden, but they never ran into them for safety. It seemed as if their pride would not let them admit they needed help or protection. Too proud to hide or run into a shelter, they ignored the places of safety. Those jackrabbits depended on the speed of their strong, hind legs—and lost! They were wonderful runners, but they couldn’t outrun a Greyhound!
Do you boys and girls know that you have an enemy chasing you? The Bible tells us about him. His name is Satan—the evil one—and he knows all the tricks to catch you off guard. He’s the one who whispers in your ear to tell a lie, to steal a cookie from the cookie jar, or to take something in a store that doesn’t belong to you. Besides those things, there are lots of other things that your mom and dad have told you not to do, because they are wrong and dishonest. But Satan whispers a lie: “It’s really okay just this once; no one will ever know!”
If you listen to Satan’s lie and do what you know is wrong, you are just like that jackrabbit. The Bible says you aren’t going to get away with it! “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:2323But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out. (Numbers 32:23)). Those wrong and dishonest things are SINS, and God writes down every sin we do in His book beside our names. And He also says there will be punishment for those sins!
Now Blackie didn’t chase just jackrabbits; he liked to chase cottontail rabbits too. One day he noticed a little cottontail in the brush along the river bottom and started to chase it. Cottontails are much smaller than jackrabbits. I thought to myself, Too bad, little rabbit ... you don’t have a chance with Blackie after you!
Suddenly the tone of Blackie’s bark changed. At first I wondered if he was hurt. But when I pushed my way through the brush, I found him howling and scratching at a rock half as big as a house! The little cottontail had run into a hole under an overhanging ledge of this big rock, and that little rabbit was perfectly safe! It could not depend on its own short legs to outrun Blackie, but it knew to run to a place of safety under the rock.
Some of you boys and girls already know that God loves you very much and sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, into this world. Jesus was willing to come down here so He could make a way for sinners to have their sins forgiven and not have to be punished for them. Here is His promise: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:3434And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. (Jeremiah 31:34)). He went to Calvary’s cross where He paid the price for every sin of every person who would come to Him to be forgiven. That is real love!
Many of you boys and girls have come to Jesus for safety and have had your sins forgiven. You are like the little cottontail rabbit that ran into the hole under the rock for safety. But some of you haven’t come to Jesus to have your sins forgiven. You are trying to be good, but that cannot forgive your sins. You must tell Jesus that you know you are a sinner and want Him to forgive your sins. Then you will be safe and can say, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:22The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalm 18:2)).
Which would you rather be—a jackrabbit and do things Satan’s way and be a loser? or a cottontail and run to Jesus for protection and safety? That should be an easy decision ... but don’t wait. Jesus is waiting right now to hear from you.
MEMORY VERSE: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust.” Psalm 18:22The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. (Psalm 18:2)
ML-03/20/2016