Possum In A Coon Cage

My son, Matthew, is a hunter and a fisherman. He started fishing when he was big enough to hold a pole. He didn't realize what it was all about until he was about three years old. My husband took him to a friend's lake fishing one Saturday afternoon. My baby brought home a fish that was big enough to cook. My husband told him he would clean it and they could cook it on a campfire. They gathered twigs and branches from trees and started a small fire. I gave them a small pan from the kitchen. While we were worrying about gathering what was needed to clean the fish, my son threw it in the pan and held it over the fire. We turned just in time to see the fish jumping and to see Matthew crying. We did a little jumping also because at first we thought he was crying because he had gotten burned. When he saw that fish trying to jump out of the pan he realized not only had he caught him, he had also killed him. That was when he first learned what the purpose of throwing the line with the hook in the water was. He's older now and even though he still loves fishing, he usually just throws back the ones he catches.

The hunting aspect of his hobby is about the same as the fishing. He has had b'b' guns, 410's, 22's, bows and arrows, but has never actually killed anything more than a tin can. When he goes deer hunting, he hunts them with a video camera, brings the video home, and shows it to his friends. I don't think he would ever have the heart to kill one. That makes me proud. Of course, he would kill me if he knew I told anyone this.

Matthew has a coon trap that he sets in a creek by our house quite often. He did catch a coon, as well as possums and our house cat several times. As with the fish, he always lets them go. Last year he was quite ill, off and on, for several months. Before an attack of his stomach ailment, he set the coon trap in the creek. Several days passed before he was able to go back and check on the trap. When he went to retrieve the trap, he found the heavy rain that had fallen the days before had buried it in the mud of the creek. When he finally dug it out, he found there was a possum inside. Unfortunately, it was dead, really dead, not just playing dead like possums do. He's too old to cry now like he did for the fish, but I could tell it bothered him that the old possum had died, boxed in a cage, and drowned in the creek. He's always been more careful with that trap ever since that day.

My son always will feel responsible for the death of that possum. Of course, you probably say, hey it's a possum. Get over it. But there are more important creatures than possums that people are unknowingly responsible for their deaths each day. How many people are there around you trapped in a cage? They are trapped in a lifestyle that will eventually kill them. We usually just leave our friends, acquaintances, and family members boxed into their unhappy sinful lives. We think we will just leave them until another day, until we feel better, until we feel bold enough to tell them about Jesus Christ.

When we finally get to feeling like going back to check on them, it is too late. They have already drifted so far that we can't reach them. They may already be buried so far in the mud that we can't dig them out. Sometimes, unfortunately, they are already dead. Today don't pass up any opportunity that comes your way to tell someone about Jesus Christ. Don’t be a possum, pretending to be something that you are not.

If you are a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ, do what followers of Jesus do. Get others to follow. He is what everyone is really hunting for. We just have to take the time to show some where they can find Him. Don't be afraid to throw your line out into the water, you might catch the big one that doesn't get away.

Matthew 4:19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

Ezekiel 3:18 When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not a warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in inequity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.


By Judy Parker
December 2, 2003