I was sitting on the deck a couple of days ago and saw a teeny tiny little lizard scurrying along the banister. He would stop occasionally to lean into a plant tray and drink some water and then carry along his way. After several minutes of this, he finally just stopped because he couldn’t climb the brick wall and looked around for where to go. And around. And around. An adult lizard had hopped out of another plant where he had been napping in the foliage and crawled along the railing toward the baby.

The “daddy” (or “mommy”) would begin to feed the baby some kind of little bits of something or other that he brought from the plant and would then go back to the little dish where I keep mealworms for the wrens and bluebirds and get a worm and come back, bite it into small pieces and use them to feed the baby. Finally, the adult strolled off and the baby looked after him in sadness (anthropomorphically speaking) until the adult turned around and came back to him.

The baby turned around and threw his little feet over the adult’s head and climbed on top of his head and back and the adult gave him a ride back to the plants and looked around as if to say, “Okay, you’re back home and safe in the plants. You’re on your own now.” The little one hopped off and scurried back to the safety of his plant.

God is like the adult lizard. We (the little lizards) go along our merry way sampling little bits of life as we go … enjoying what we see and do … some legal, some illegal … some appropriate behavior (according to God), some inappropriate (again, appropriate for God’s Way). We know the guidelines according to God’s Word if you choose to read it and follow it. When we ignore it is when the problems arise.

Like the little lizard, we live more of a life on our own, doing our own thing, until the time comes that we are in a place where we realize we are on our own and all alone and do not know where to go. So, we call out for help and God will always answer no matter how lost you are. He will let you on His back and carry you safely back Home. Even when He lets you off His back, He will not leave you, but will always be there watching and guiding you as you try to learn to live a more Godly life.

I think of myself of a Godly man, but I still wander off on my own occasionally and need His guidance back Home. How about you?

And for today my friends, this has been the gospel according to Jimmy.

Jimmy Cochran is a resident of McDonough, a musician, a minister and the author of Being God’s and Staying God’s, both available at Amazon.com. Being God’s is also available at Moye’s Pharmacy in McDonough.