A Spring of Joy

When I was small, my parents would read to us each night for family devotions. I don’t remember all the details, but I remember the story of a hen. It’s an old parable handed down for years, and it has stuck with me for decades now.

It’s the story of a mother hen who lived on a farm with her chicks, and there was a brush fire that swept through the barnyard. The mother hen, knowing she could not outrun the fire, surrounded her babies with her own wings, covering them as the fire passed over. She died in that fire, but her chicks lived, safe under the protection of their mother’s love. What a picture of Christ’s love for us! A love so great that He sacrificed His own precious life for us.

This won’t come as any surprise to those of you who know me, but as a tiny girl, I cried for hours after my parents read that story. I couldn’t get over the fact that that Mamma had died for her babies.

Yesterday, I read this:

He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and buckler.
You shall not be afraid.
(Psalm 91:4-5)

And just like when I was little, I cried. Y’all I just can’t get over it. Jesus died for me!