One night just before dawn Daniel the raccoon climbed down out of his hollow tree and went across the field to Joe and Haley’s farmhouse. He knew how to open the door to the house, so he let himself into the house and went exploring. Daniel stopped first in Joe’s room, he was looking for something shiny that he could take back to his hollow tree because he liked to collect shiny things. Joe’s crutches were shining in the moonlight that was coming through the window, but they were too big to take all the way across the field and they would never fit into his hollow tree. So, Daniel left Joe’s room and went to Haley’s room. Daniel climbed up onto the dresser and started looking for something shiny. Then a sound came through the open window! Daniel looked out the window and got excited! The sound was made by six other raccoons that had come to visit the farm! Daniel forgot all about looking for shiny things, he forgot all about being quiet, and he forgot that Haley was asleep in the bed! Daniel jumped onto the bed so that he could look out the window. Unfortunately, he landed right on Haley! Haley screamed and with her usual gracefulness she fell out of bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud! Just before Haley fell out of bed she swatted at Daniel and knocked him right out the window and into the branches of the tree outside. Daniel grabbed onto the branches with his sharp claws and scampered down the tree to join the other raccoons! He wanted to play!
By the time Joe got to Haley’s room and picked her up off the floor, Daniel and the other raccoons were playing and rolling around together on the lawn. Haley could not tell which raccoon was Daniel! She said to Joe, “How are we going to know which one is Daniel? They all look the same!” Joe replied, “You just need to be patient! After a while we will be able to figure out which raccoon is Daniel.” Haley did not want to be patient. She said, “I just cannot sit here all day and wait! I am going to follow the raccoons and watch them!” Joe answered, “If you are going to follow them, you had better wear your swimsuit because they will probably go down to the river sometime and you know how you always fall into the river!”
The raccoons were still playing in the yard, so Haley had time to put on her swimsuit and to eat a big breakfast and pack a lunch. About the middle of the morning the raccoons left the yard and started to run, but they did not head to the river, they headed straight to the barn! Haley ran after them and followed them into the barn. The raccoons ran up into the hayloft and Haley followed them. She wished she was wearing more than just her swimsuit because the hay was prickly. The raccoons all curled up into one heap and took a nap! Haley knew that they would not sleep a long time, and she did not want them to get away when they woke up so she decided to sit down in the prickly hay and watch them closely! The barn was warm and soon Haley fell asleep! When she was asleep, she was breathing the hay dust and her body decided that it was time to sneeze! Haley was jerked awake by her loud sneeze and that woke up the raccoons! All seven raccoons started running to get out of the barn and away from that horrible noise! They did not know that Haley was lying in the hay, and they all ran right over her! That’s right, all 28 raccoon feet with 5 claws on each foot ran over Haley (if you do the math that’s 140 claws)! Haley was all scratched up, but she did not notice it because she jumped to her feet and ran after the raccoons! The raccoons scrambled down the ladder to get out of the hayloft, but Haley was running so fast that she missed the ladder and fell out of the hayloft with a scream! Fortunately, she landed on a pile of hay, so she did not get hurt! When Haley screamed the raccoons ran as fast as they could out of the barn and headed for the forest! They thought some kind of screaming monster was chasing them! Haley ran out of the barn and that made the raccoons run even faster! Joe was watching from the house and heard the noise and saw them all running to the forest. He just shook his head and said to himself, ‘I told her to just be patient and wait, but she would not listen’.
The raccoons reached the forest with Haley still chasing them! They all ran up different trees and began jumping through the branches from tree to tree! Haley was running around under the trees trying to watch them all and figure out which raccoon was Daniel! This went on for quite a while until the raccoons jumped into an oak tree that was loaded with acorns! As the raccoons jumped around in the branches; acorns began falling out of the tree! The acorns fell faster and faster! The acorns were landing on Haley! Whatever way she turned it seemed like the acorns kept falling on her! Haley decided to get out from under that tree, but when she tried to run her feet slipped on acorns and she fell and rolled down the hill right into a patch of raspberry bushes! Raspberry bushes have thorns, so Haley got even more scratches. Haley got out of the bushes and just lay on the ground and began to cry. She was tired and hurting and she still had not figured out which raccoon was Daniel.
While Haley was lying on the ground by the raspberry bushes the raccoons quietly climbed out of the tree and went to the river. They were hungry! After Haley got done crying, she also went to the river, she thought that she would take a swim and maybe that would make her feel better. Haley was surprised when she got to the river and saw all 7 raccoons at the edge of the river fishing. She did not want to scare them again, but she still had to figure out which raccoon was Daniel, so she quietly walked to the edge of the river about 50 feet from them. There were some bushes growing there that she could hide behind. Haley was being so careful not to be seen that she did not look where she was going! The ground became soft, muddy, and mushy and Haley tripped and with a scream fell face-first right into the mushy mud! Haley rolled over and tried to get up, but she fell again and now she was completely covered with mud from head to foot! The raccoons were frightened out of their minds and began running out of the forest back toward the farm with the muddy Haley monster chasing them! Joe heard them coming and saw that Haley was completely covered with mud! Joe said to himself, “Well at least she did not fall into the river this time!”
When Haley got to Joe, she opened her mouth to complain about all the things that had gone wrong that day, but before she could say anything Joe turned on the garden hose and Haley got a mouthful of water. That water was cold, and Haley was whimpering and dancing around and begging Joe to turn off the water, but Joe did not turn off the water until all the mud was washed off Haley, the raccoons thought all this was very funny and they were watching Haley getting hosed off! When she was finally clean Joe turned off the water and there stood a very unhappy Haley! She had cold water running off her, her hair was a mess, she was covered with scratches and bruises and she had raspberry thorns stuck in her legs. Haley yelled, “You would not believe what I have been through today and I still do not know which raccoon is Daniel!”
Joe answered, “I told you this morning that all you needed to do was to be patient. None of the things that you did were necessary!” Haley said, “What does patience have to do with this?” Joe answered, “We needed to wait for the end of the day. Right now it is time for supper and then it will be time to rest. This is when we find out which raccoon is Daniel.” Joe picked up his crutches and went over to the door of the house, he held open the door and said, “Daniel It’s time to eat!” Daniel immediately left his new friends and trotted right through the door into the house. Haley started to follow Daniel into the house, but Joe tossed her a towel and said, “Dry off a bit before you come in!”
Application:
Daniel came home at the end of the day because he knew Joe’s voice and knew that he was part of the family, so he went into the house.
In the Bible in John 10:27 Jesus says:
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”
Sheep are animals that depend on a shepherd to care for them and protect them. Sheep know the voice of their shepherd and follow him, but they will not follow a stranger. In the Bible Jesus compares those who believe in Him to sheep, and He is their shepherd! God does not have to rush around trying to figure out if we really believe in Jesus. If we are true believers, we will follow Jesus.
We follow Jesus by:
- Asking Jesus to forgive our sins and come live in our life.
- Wanting to please Jesus by the way we live.
- Wanting to know Jesus better.
Jesus leads us through this life, our job is to listen to Him and follow Him.
The day is coming when Jesus will call us to our forever home in heaven. This will happen either when we die from sickness, an accident, or old age or when Jesus returns and takes all believers out of this world!
We might still be alive when Jesus comes back and calls all the living Christians to come home to heaven.
In the Bible in I Thessalonians 4:17-17 it says:
“The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. And those who have died believing in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive will be gathered up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And we will be with the Lord forever.”
Please give your life to Jesus and begin following Him. It is the only way to get to the Father’s house in heaven when this life is over!