We shall mount up with wings as eagles.....
Isaiah 40:31
Isaiah 40:31
" Praise the Lord for that which He is about to do! "
Can I Fly?
~ Ten Caterpillars find that being disobedient can be very dangerous ~
Once upon a time Ten little Caterpillars were discussing their future.
"What shall we do?" Said Jim.
"Our mother is not here to tell us what to do."
"I know," said Tom. "We are supposed to stay away from the Pond, the Horse Lot and the Road; and we are to eat the grass and the weeds. And most important: stay out of that Man's garden!"
"Who told you to be our boss?" said Bill.
"No one," was Tom's comeback.
(The little Caterpillars all have names you know. There is Bill, Tom, Sue, Mary, Jim, Rachel, Ted, Susie, Paul and Christy)
Bill piped up again, "I will do what I want to do. No one is going to tell me what I can and can not do. First, I am going to the pond. Who wants to go with me?"
He said, huffing and puffing his little chest.
Susie’s small voice was heard, "Wait. We should do what we are supposed to do and not go places we are not supposed to go. We will fly like a bird if we do right. Won't that be much better than crawling on our bellies?"
"Yeah, we will have lots of fun flying up in the trees and across the pond. Why not wait until we get our wings?," was Tom's reply.
"Just listen to that dreamer," said Bill. "Can you imagine him ever flying? Not me. I am going to have all the fun I can right now. Let him wait and see if he gets any wings.” I asked again, “Is anyone going with me?"
The answer came out like a chorus. "We’re all coming with you.”
So they started for the pond. Tom went along with them. He thought he might be able to get them out of trouble if he were there. So they were soon at the pond.
"It’s just a hole of water. How can water hurt us?" asked Christy. Bill started to crawl up a limb that was leaning out over the water.
"Better be careful," said Tom.
Bill flashed a large grin and said, "Wow, look at me! I can see my picture in the water." He stood up on his back legs, weaving back and forth.
"I am going out too," said Sue. So she started to go out toward Bill.
Tom tried to stop her, but she went anyway. About the time she got near Bill, a stream of water came up from the pond and knocked him into the pond.
A fish then swallowed Bill!
Sue turned back and headed for the shore, but she never made it.
Another fish jumped out of the water and grabbed Sue right off the limb!
Then a large spider ran up from the edge of the water!
It grabbed Rachel and started dragging her off!
The rest of the worms got scared and hurried away as fast as they could and hid themselves in the grass for a long time. They could hear something near by and went over to see what it was. Something strange was coming from a huge fenced in lot.
When they got closer they saw several large horses walking about.
"We had better get away from here,” said Paul.
"No," said Ted. "I am gonna climb up that post and get a good look at those horses."
"Me too," said Christy.
They stated climbing up the fence post. Mary tried to keep them
from going up, but they told her to mind her own business.
"We are not going in there," trembling Ted said. "We will be safer up here."
When her head touched the horse's nose, he snorted and the air from the horse's nose blew her out into the grass below; boy was she shook up!
Ted started to climb down, but a bird flew down and picked him off the post. He flew away with Ted in his mouth!
Soon they heard a loud noise. They crawled up a weed to see what was making the noise. They then saw a car passing.
"That must be the road," said Tom.
"Let’s go over to the other side," said Jim. "You go if you must," said Paul, "But I am with Tom. We were to stay away from the road. We have already lost some of our family by disobeying. I for one am for following instructions."
"Look over there," said Jim, stretching his little neck trying to see clearer. “I think I see a patch of melons and tomatoes across that road over there. Bet that’s some good eats. Anything would be better than this old grass. And I’m not afraid neither and to prove it, I’m gonna cross that
road."
road."
Guess what happened? A big truck came along, and they did not see Jim anymore.
Tom, Mary, Christy, Paul and Susie crawled away, sadly shaking
their little heads. They could not believe everything that had happened this day.
When the little Caterpillars that survived finally got back home, they were tired, discouraged and lonely for their lost friends. If only they had listened to what they were told. Maybe their friends would have still
been around to have fun with. It made them very sad to think that they would be able to enjoy the summer days ahead, but their friends would not.
In a few days Mary started weaving her cocoon. "You sure look weird weaving your head back and forth like that," said Paul. "Why do you do that?"
"That’s the right thing to do," said Mary. "You should get busy building your own instead of pestering me."
And so it was that each of them built their own cocoon. It took some time, but after a while there came forth-Five beautiful butterflies; and they were flying from flower to flower and up into the trees and above the pond. I don't know if they remembered that they were once Caterpillars or not, or if they remembered their friends that where lost so long ago. What I do know is that they are now very happy. Very carefree and very much a part of God’s plan.
Now think about this. Jesus once said if we would live as He lived, one day we would be as the Angels, that is, if we don’t do bad things and get ourselves lost forever along the way. It is always important to remember the warnings that our parents and loved ones offer and to do our best to follow the right way. Let’s obey the Bible's instructions and one of these days, we too will have new bodies and live in His presence forever.
Elder Carl Stewart
House of Prayer Sabbath Ministries
Written: September 1997
Copyright: 2001
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