JUNIOR KING'S BUSINESS
Martha S. Hooker
C o d ’d G reat Creation By Ethel S. Low G RANDMA, come quick! Tootsie has fallen in the river!”
so tight and oily that no water soaks through, and they can float or swim.” “ Do chickens know they can’t swim?” Alden asked. “ Yes, indeed they do,” Grandma re plied. “ Sometimes people set duck eggs under hens, and when the ducklings hatch out, they make for the nearest puddle of water, and their hen mother almost goes wild, trying to get them out of the water. She thinks they will drown, for she can’t swim, but they know they can swim, so they pay no attention to her clucking.” “ But, Grandma,” Norman asked, “How do the ducklings know they can swim? Who tells them?” “Nobody tells them, dear. God made them so they know. We call it ‘instinct.’ God created every animal with certain habits and natures, and they always re main true to those habits. Ducklings and goslings always swim, chickens run around and scratch.” “ It’s funny, Grandma,” Norman ob served, “ Hens always cackle, and roost ers always crow. Rabbits always hop, and kittens always run. Dogs bark and cats meow.” “ That’s right, and it all shows up how wonderfully God planned all things, even for the little animals and the birds. They are always made just right for the place where they are to live, and the things they are to do. They can never change their kind or their habits.” “It would be silly if they could change, wouldn’t it?” Alden said. “ Suppose a cat had rabbits instead of kittens. It would be just plain crazy.” And both boys gig gled at the stupidity of such a thing. “I agree with you, it would be silly. No, animals can never change their na tures. There is just one thing God cre
ated that can change their natures. Guess what it is?” Neither boy could guess, so Grandma told them. “Human beings. They are born sinful creatures, and by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ they become redeemed saints. Of course, in the first place, God created man to be His companion, and he was fitted to live in a perfect garden. God had given him a nature to fit the place where He wanted him to be, but man spoiled all God’s perfect creation and became a sinner, so he was no longer fit to be in God’s presence. But God did something about it.” “ I know what, Grandma,” both boys said at once. “ What did He do?” “ For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that who soever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “ That’s right,” Grandma said, “ and so those who believe are like all God’s crea tures, God is making them just right for the place where they are to live forever, heaven.” A LITTLE BOY 'S VERSION of the Twenty-third Psalm The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down on the green grass. He leads me by the still water. He makes me better when I’m sick. He leads me along the straight road. When it’s dark, I’m not afraid of the lions and tigers and bears and mon keys because Jesus has got a stick to keep them away. He gets ready a nice dinner for me on the table. He pours some oil over my head. He fills up a cup of tea until it comes up to the brim and runs over into the saucer. Surely goodness and mercy shall run after me as long as I live, and when I die I’ll go up to heaven to be with Jesus forever. New K.Y.B.C. Members BROOKLYN, New York: Faith Brooks; Irene Lindy; Barbara, Joan and Madeline Michols; Sonya Visser. (Miss Evelyn Peters, Leader.) CENTRALIA, Washington: Helen Milem. (Mrs. A. J. Milera, Parent.) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
While Grandma followed as fast as she could, Alden ran screaming across the field to the trail that went down to the river. Grandma arrived at the top of the cliff in time to see him wade out on some rocks. Down the river bobbed a lit tle buff ball which was Tootsie, Alden’s pet Buff Cochin bantam hen! Alas! Toot sie was head down in the water, drowned. Alden reached for her as she floated by, missed her and fell in up to his shoul der, but was out in an instant and run ning down-the stream after the chicken. Norman, his older brother, caught up with him, and held on while Grandma called, “ Alden, come back, honey. You can’t get her, and she is dead anyhow!” But the child fought to go on after his precious pet, and it took the combined strength of Norman and David, a play mate, to pull Him up the cliff to Grand ma. By this time Alden was shaking with the cold, and so he was hurried into the house and into a tub of warm water. When he was being dressed in warm, dry clothes, he was still crying and insisting, “ Tootsie wasn’t dead, I could hear her peeping!” “ No, dear,” Grandma explained, “ She was dead. You see, chickens can’t stand it to have their heads under water. I think she was hurt or she would not have fallen into the river; she would have flown into a tree when the dog chased her.” “Yes, Grandma,” Norman agreed, “Da vid’s dog did hurt her. He grabbed her, but she got away and flew into the tree, but she couldn’t hold on.” “ Then she fell eight feet into the river,” Grandma said, “ and she was probably dead when she struck the wa ter. It’s too bad, dear, and I’m awfully sorry. Don’t cry any more!” Alden stopped crying to say, “ I hate David’s dog!” Grandma took him on her lap and said, “ Let’s have a little talk about things. Don’t hate the dog. He does just what God made him to do. He is a hunting dog. He was intended to hunt birds. Tootsie was a bird, so he hunted her.” “Why can’t chickens swim?” Norman asked. “ Because God made them to stay on the land. He made ducks and geese to swim, so He gave them webbed feet for paddles, and their coat of feathers Page Sixteen
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