Summer was sitting at the kitchen table working on school when she heard Mom yell from the backyard. "Summer! A bird needs to be rescued!"
Dropping her pencil, Summer ran outside. Mom pointed to the middle of the ice skating rink Dad had constructed over the winter. There was the tiniest baby turkey, cheeping noisily and trying to jump out of the now grass-filled rink.
"Oh, it's adorable! How did it get stuck in there?"
Mom shook her head. "I'm still trying to figure that out. See the mom and all its brothers and sisters over there in the woods? I watched them hop into the rink and walk through, then this little one couldn't get back out. I'm worried because the mom doesn't seem to know and keeps going farther away."
Summer carefully knelt down by the frightened little turkey and gently scooped it up. "Come on, Miracle. I'll take you back to your family." She stepped lightly across the yard and placed the baby close to its siblings. Mom and Summer watched as Miracle darted over to her family and got right in line, following them deep into the woods.
"Miracle is a perfect name for that baby turkey," Mom said with a smile. "You do such a good job taking caring of critters that can't help themselves."
Summer grinned. "Thanks. I love animals, so whenever I see one in trouble, I come to the rescue!" She tapped the side of the ice rink with her foot. "You know, Mom, when I was holding Miracle, I was thinking of how God rescued us by sending us His Son, Jesus. We couldn't help ourselves--nothing we do could ever be good enough for us to have a close friendship with God and go to heaven one day. We needed to be rescued from our sin, and since Jesus is perfect, His sacrifice on the cross for our sins was the only rescue that would work."
Mom's eyes filled with tears of joy. "Absolutely! I'm so thankful that God loved us enough to send Jesus to rescue us from our darkness and bring us into His light."
Summer and her mom laughed as they heard a turkey gobble loudly in the distance. "Mom, I think they agree!" (Savannah Coleman)
HOW ABOUT YOU?
Did you know God sent His Son to rescue you? Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. We don’t have to follow a set of rules or try to get to heaven in our own strength because Jesus has already paid the price for our salvation on the cross. He is our Rescuer. Trust in Him and you will be saved. (To learn more, click the "Good News!" button in the right column of this page.)
TODAY'S KEY VERSE: Colossians 1:13 (KJV)
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. (NIV)