Lessons from a Rambunctious Chick

A new experience for our family is caring for 20 baby chicks, currently about ten days old. Utilizing advice from the experts, we constructed a circular, cardboard wall twelve-inches high to create an environment where the chicks can eat, drink, sleep, and be warmed by the heat lamp. Without the wall, the young birds might wonder off and die, unable to find their way back to the comfort and security of the heat lamp.

Yesterday morning I found that one of the chicks, as a result of rambunctious activity, had managed to get over the wall, finding itself cut off from the life-sustaining heat, water, and food. On the coldest day of its young life, the bird would have perished had I not discovered its predicament.

That experience reminded me of the role of the Law of God in the lives of humans. Knowing how we can best thrive and prosper in this world, God has revealed standards by which we should live. Frequently, however, we regard these laws as too confining, unnecessarily restrictive, and just plain burdensome.

We mistakenly think that bliss is to be found outside the “circle” of God’s Law. The reality is, however, that all who violate God’s standards will perish. In biblical language, “the wages of sin is death.”

The message of the Gospel is that God has extended His hand to save us in the person of His son, Jesus Christ. He bore our guilt when He died on the cross. For all who recognize their peril, turn from their disobedient ways, and trust the Savior, their sins are forgiven.

The chick I rescued didn’t welcome my assistance. It tried to escape my saving hand, oblivious to its perilous situation. Many humans likewise reject God’s offer of salvation, preferring instead their sin-dominated lifestyles. The Apostle Paul’s reply to a terrified prison warden still applies: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household.”