The Lord's Animals and the Devil's

Long ago, in the very beginning of time when the world was still young and fresh from the Creator’s hand, the Lord had just finished making all the animals that would inhabit the earth. It had been a wonderful work of creation, with each creature designed perfectly for its purpose and place in the great harmony of nature.

The Lord had created gentle sheep with soft wool to keep humans warm, patient oxen to help with heavy work, loyal dogs to guard homes and flocks, industrious bees to pollinate flowers and make sweet honey, and countless other animals, each with its own special role in the grand design of creation.

As the Lord stood back to admire His work, He was well pleased with what He had made. The animals were beautiful, useful, and good-natured. They lived in harmony with each other and with the humans who would care for them and be helped by them in return.

But the Devil, who was always watching from the shadows and could never bear to see anything good and beautiful in the world, became intensely jealous of the Lord’s magnificent creation.

“I could do that just as well!” the Devil said to himself, his eyes burning with envy and pride. “In fact, I could probably do it even better! Why should the Lord be the only one who can create animals? I’ll show everyone that my creatures will be superior to His!”

The Devil was so consumed with jealousy and arrogance that he convinced himself he could indeed match the Lord’s creative power. He decided to make his own animals to rival those that the Lord had created.

First, the Devil attempted to create an animal like the gentle, wooly sheep that the Lord had made. But because the Devil’s heart was full of malice and mischief, his creation came out quite differently than intended.

Instead of a soft, docile sheep, the Devil created the goat - a creature with a scraggly beard, stubborn disposition, and a tendency to eat everything in sight, including things that no sensible animal should eat, like laundry hanging on clotheslines, important papers, and even wooden fences.

“There!” the Devil said proudly, admiring his goat. “My creature is much more interesting than those boring sheep. It has personality and spirit!”

But even as he spoke, the goat was demonstrating its “personality” by eating the Devil’s own hat and trying to butt him with its hard head.

Undaunted by this less-than-perfect first attempt, the Devil decided to try creating a creature to rival the Lord’s faithful, hardworking oxen. He worked with great concentration, trying to improve upon what he saw as the dull, plodding nature of the Lord’s cattle.

The result was the stubborn donkey - a creature that would indeed work, but only when it felt like it, and which had an annoying habit of stopping dead in its tracks at the most inconvenient moments and refusing to budge no matter how much its owner pleaded, pushed, or pulled.

“Excellent!” the Devil declared, though he had to shout to be heard over the donkey’s loud braying. “My animal is much more independent-minded than those servile oxen!”

However, as he spoke, the donkey sat down in the middle of the path and refused to move, no matter what the Devil did to encourage it.

Growing increasingly frustrated but still determined to prove his superiority, the Devil attempted to create a hunting animal to compete with the Lord’s loyal dogs. He envisioned a creature that would be fiercer and more impressive than any dog.

What emerged from his efforts was the wolf - certainly fierce, but also wild, untrainable, and with a disturbing tendency to view sheep, goats, and even humans as potential meals rather than companions.

“Perfect!” the Devil proclaimed, though he was backing away nervously as the wolf he had created began to eye him hungrily. “My creature is far more exciting than those tame, predictable dogs!”

But the wolf showed its appreciation for its creator by trying to bite him and then running off into the forest to cause trouble for shepherds and their flocks.

Realizing that perhaps he needed to try something smaller and seemingly easier, the Devil decided to create an insect to rival the Lord’s industrious bees. Surely, he thought, making a tiny creature would be simpler than creating large animals.

The Devil’s version of the bee was the wasp - a creature that looked somewhat similar to a bee but had a vicious temper, a painful sting that it used at the slightest provocation, and absolutely no interest in making honey or pollinating flowers. Instead, it preferred to build papery nests in inconvenient places and chase people away from their picnics.

“Magnificent!” the Devil exclaimed, then immediately ran for cover as a swarm of his newly created wasps began buzzing angrily around his head.

Finally, the Devil attempted to create a creature to rival the Lord’s beautiful songbirds. He wanted to make something that would be even more impressive and attention-getting than the lovely melodies that birds sang each morning.

His creation was the raven - a large, black bird with a harsh, croaking voice that sounded like it had a permanent sore throat. Instead of singing sweet songs, the raven cawed loudly and harshly, and it had an unfortunate tendency to steal shiny objects and play unpleasant tricks on people.

After all these attempts, the Devil stood back to survey his handiwork, expecting to feel proud of his achievements. But instead, he found himself surrounded by a goat that was eating his shoes, a donkey that refused to move, a wolf that was eyeing him as a potential snack, wasps that were chasing him, and a raven that was trying to steal the buttons off his coat.

The Lord, who had been watching these efforts with patient amusement, finally spoke to the Devil.

“My dear adversary,” the Lord said gently, “I see that you have been busy trying to improve upon My creation. How are you finding the experience?”

The Devil, who was at that moment dodging his own goat while trying to swat away wasps and avoid being bitten by his wolf, looked rather frazzled.

“Well,” the Devil said reluctantly, “there might be a few small problems with my designs…”

“I see,” the Lord replied with infinite patience. “Perhaps the difficulty is that creation requires not just power, but also love, wisdom, and the desire to make things that will bring harmony and joy to the world. When creation comes from anger, jealousy, or the desire to cause trouble, the results tend to reflect those motivations.”

The Devil was forced to admit that his animals, while certainly energetic and attention-getting, were not exactly the peaceful, helpful creatures he had intended to create.

“Your sheep give wool and milk,” the Devil observed glumly. “My goats eat everything in sight and knock people over. Your oxen plow fields and carry heavy loads. My donkeys sit down and refuse to work whenever they feel like it.”

“Exactly,” the Lord said kindly. “And this is why, from now on, people will be able to easily distinguish between animals that come from divine love and wisdom, and animals that come from mischief and malice. Your creatures will serve as reminders that not all creation comes from good intentions.”

But the Lord, in His infinite mercy and wisdom, did not destroy the Devil’s animals. Instead, He allowed them to remain in the world, but with certain limitations and purposes that would actually serve the greater good.

The goats, despite their mischievous nature, became useful for clearing brush and providing milk in harsh environments where sheep could not survive. The donkeys, for all their stubborness, proved to be incredibly strong and sure-footed, perfect for carrying loads in difficult terrain. The wolves, though wild and dangerous, played an important role in keeping the balance of nature by controlling the populations of other animals.

Even the wasps, annoying as they were, helped control harmful insects that damaged crops. And the ravens, despite their harsh voices and mischievous ways, proved to be remarkably intelligent and served as nature’s cleanup crew.

“You see,” the Lord explained to the Devil, “even your imperfect creations can serve good purposes when they are guided by divine wisdom. The key is not in the original intention, but in how the creatures are used within the greater plan of creation.”

The Devil, somewhat chagrined by this turn of events, realized that he had learned an important lesson about the nature of creation and the difference between divine wisdom and his own limited understanding.

From that day forward, people understood why some animals were gentle and helpful while others were stubborn or mischievous. When they saw sheep peacefully grazing in meadows, they remembered the Lord’s loving care in creation. When they encountered a stubborn goat or donkey, they were reminded that not all creation comes from perfect motives, but that even imperfect things can serve important purposes in the grand design of the world.

Parents would tell this story to their children to help them understand that in life, they would encounter both good and troublesome influences, and that wisdom lay in recognizing the difference and learning to work with both in constructive ways.

“Remember,” they would say, “when you meet people or situations that remind you of the Lord’s animals - gentle, helpful, and kind - appreciate them and learn from their example. And when you encounter people or situations that are more like the Devil’s animals - stubborn, mischievous, or difficult - try to find ways to work with them constructively and remember that even challenging circumstances can sometimes serve important purposes in teaching us patience, wisdom, and understanding.”

And so the tale of the Lord’s animals and the Devil’s animals became a beloved story that helped people understand the mixed nature of the world they lived in, where divine goodness and human mischief existed side by side, and where wisdom lay in learning to appreciate the good while dealing constructively with the troublesome.

The animals themselves, both the Lord’s and the Devil’s, continued to live according to their natures, providing humans with examples of both virtue and vice, and reminding everyone that creation is a complex and wonderful thing that requires both appreciation and understanding to navigate successfully.

Moral: True creation comes from love and wisdom, while creation motivated by jealousy and mischief produces results that reflect those flawed intentions, yet even imperfect things can serve important purposes in the greater design of life.