I have told all your people about your justice. I have not been afraid to speak out, as you, O Lord, well know. I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart; I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power. I have told everyone in the great assembly of your unfailing love and faithfulness. [Psalm 40:9-10 (NLT)]
We recently attended a program at our local zoo about giant armadillos. The speaker has spent the last seventeen years in the Brazilian Pantanal wetlands conducting research on several species ranging from peccaries to iguanas. Seven years ago, he became enamored by the elusive giant armadillo and it has been his focus ever since he realized this prehistoric creature (about five feet long and weighing up to 130 pounds) is a keystone species. With its many burrows (a new one every two days), it plays a crucial engineering role in the ecosystem; many other animals depend upon those burrows for their survival. The biologist’s enthusiasm for his topic was compelling and contagious. With his incredible passion for these amazing and endangered animals, he admitted to speaking about them whenever and wherever the opportunity arises.
Like many other scientists, prior to meeting the giant armadillo, this biologist did research, wrote a paper, published it, and went on to another project. The more he learned about the giant armadillo, however, the more concerned he became about its survival. Realizing that academic research alone would not save them, he began sharing his passion. He educated people about these secretive and endangered animals and lobbied for changes in land management, conservation, hunting practices, superstitions and even bee keeping. Scientific treatises alone won’t save this animal but sharing its story just might!
Listening to this biologist speak with such fervor, I couldn’t help but wonder why we Christians rarely demonstrate such passion for Jesus. Much of the time, we seem rather lukewarm about God and rarely show that same zeal about our Savior. Moreover, like research scientists, we are often content to limit our activities to the theoretical rather than the practical. But, just as field work and scientific papers alone will not save the giant armadillo, our neighbor will not get saved by our church attendance and Bible study. Our passion, like that biologist’s, must be evident. He’s trying to save animals, but we’re trying to save souls!
The late Christian musician Keith Green is reported to have said the definition of a Christian is someone who’s bananas for Jesus! I imagine that within an hour of meeting this biologist, anyone would know that he’s bananas for giant armadillos. I wonder, within an hour of meeting me, would anyone know I’m bananas for Jesus? How about you?
Romper Room, a children’s program that first aired in 1953, was like a televised pre-school/kindergarten class. At the end of every show, the hostess would pick up her magic mirror and recite the words, “Magic Mirror, tell me today, did all my friends have fun at play?” Looking through an open frame shaped like a hand mirror, she’d then call out various children’s names: “I see Johnny had a special day today, Olivia had a special day yesterday, and I see Bonnie, Tammy and Gregory had special days, as well, and Brandon, you know I see you…” For forty years, small children patiently sat in front of their TVs hoping to hear their names called. While that illustrates the naiveté of youngsters back then, it also demonstrates how much we all want to be noticed and recognized.
Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water. … But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” [John 4:10,14 (NLT)]
Yesterday I happened upon a wood stork enjoying a fish breakfast. I was astonished as the stork swallowed the whole wriggling fish in one big gulp. “I’ll have to put that in my gratitude journal,” I thought as I walked on. Later, I spotted two woodpeckers hammering away at a tree and got up close and personal with a pond snail laying eggs. Two more for the journal, I thought. Did I put those little blessings in my journal last night? Shamefully, I forgot to write in it at all; worse, I totally forgot about them in my nightly prayers!
It’s not just light poles that were destroyed by Hurricane Irma’s winds; many trees also met their end at her hands. As I looked at the upended roots of a once mighty oak, I thought of one of Aesop’s fables about an oak in a storm. A proud oak stood by a stream, and like this one, had survived several storms in its many years. One day, a hurricane the likes of Irma arrived and the great oak fell with a thunderous crash. As the water rose, it was carried down to the sea. When the oak eventually came to rest along the shore, it looked up at the sea oats that were waving in the now gentle sea breeze, “How did you manage to weather such a terrible storm?” it asked. “I’m a great oak and even I didn’t have strength enough to battle the wind.”
Devotions of the Heart 