On a sunny Sunday, my parent’s neighbors, Cindy and Ed, were cleaning up their pond area. They called my dad to ask if he would help move an old, heavy grill on their dock. When he arrived at the pond, Cindy lifted the lid on the grill. Eek!! A family of field mice had taken up residence in the grill, and there were multiple tiny baby mice. The mother mouse began running around in a crazed panic. Terrified, she ran right off the grill and flew straight over the edge into the watery depths of the pond.
As Cindy and my dad looked on in shock, the mouse in the pond bobbed back to the surface and began swimming. She didn’t want to drown! Cindy was quite distraught over the whole scene. She felt sorry for the mouse family and the plight of the mother mouse, so she reached down into the pond and swished the water, trying to help propel the little mouse to the shore. This action only proved to make small waves for the mouse and, unfortunately, did not help propel her to shore. By now, the mouse was getting very tired of swimming. She hadn’t really moved much from her original spot in the pond, and she began to slowly sink down under the surface looking upwards as if asking for help.
It would’ve been helpful if there was some way to communicate with the mouse. They could have given her instructions on how to swim properly. They could have told her the right direction to go and encouraged her with how close to shore she was. Perhaps she could have been instructed on how to float until she could be rescued. But no one spoke “mouse”, and so another means of help had to be used.
As the mouse slipped further under the water, my dad reached in, scooped up the limp mouse, and cradled her in his hand.
The mouse didn’t move.
Feeling committed to the cause, my dad gently started chest compressions with one finger while Cindy leaned over and huffed breaths down onto the little mouse. I’m sure it was the oddest CPR procedure ever attempted. However, it worked! The mouse spit up some water and began breathing again. They gently reunited the mouse with her family in the old, heavy grill and quietly closed the lid. The grill would have to get moved another day—after the mouse family had grown up.
What if the only way to save the drowning mouse was to become a mouse? Then one could communicate and lead her to safety. Any volunteers? By the way, this would be a permanent physical change. Sounds ridiculous, right? Who in their right mind would value a mouse so much as to sacrifice oneself in such a traumatic way?
But didn’t Someone do such a thing for us? We got ourselves in a big sin mess here on this planet. We were drowning in sin with no hope of survival. Yet, Jesus chose to leave Heaven’s beauty, splendor, and perfection to rescue us. He left the adoration of angels who readily did His bidding and came here knowing He would be mistreated, misunderstood, and murdered. He chose that because He loves us too much to watch us drown. Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Call to Action
Would you think the mouse was crazy and foolish if she ignored the help she was offered and, instead, chose to drown? Why would we do the same? “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). Also, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life...” (John 3:36).
Jesus made an immeasurable sacrifice for you to have the choice to be saved. Choose life!
Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
