Through a crack in the wall, a mouse watched the farmer and his wife open a package. “What food might this contain?” the mouse wondered, but was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap! Scurrying to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning. “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I simply cannot be bothered by it.” The pig sympathized, but oinked, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it. But I'm praying for you!” The cow mooed, “I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.” So, the mouse slowly returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.
That very night a sound was heard throughout the house—like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught, and as soon as she got close, the snake bit her. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.
To treat the fever with fresh chicken soup, the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.
The farmer’s wife suffered from the snake bite, and soon she died. So many people came for her funeral, that the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them. The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.
The moral to the story is clear— the things you are going through today might be my burdens tomorrow. What affects you, ultimately can affect me. This is especially true in the Body of Christ. God has designed us to be together, working in unity for the Kingdom of God. The Bible reminds us over and over--and over--that we are to care for one another, be kind to one another, love one another, encourage one another, and bear each other's burdens. The reason? "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it" (1 Corinthians 12:27).
--Rocky Henriques, www.uticabc.com