yet they are extremely wise:
25 Ants are creatures of little strength,
yet they store up their food in the summer;
26 hyraxes are creatures of little power,
yet they make their home in the crags;
27 locusts have no king,
yet they advance together in ranks;
28 a lizard can be caught with the hand,
yet it is found in kings’ palaces.
Many of God's creations flock together, and they have leaders, too. Elephants, a pride of lions, a swarm of bees . . . they all have a leader that they follow.
Locusts are different. They swarm in huge numbers, but they have no king, no leader. It seems like they know their strength is in numbers!
Locust swarms can vary from one square kilometer to several hundred square kilometers. Wow! And a large swarm of desert locusts can consume 20,000 tons of vegetation a day. That's hard to imagine.
Many years ago there were swarms of locusts on the plains of the United States. They wreaked havoc in Nebraska, Iowa, and Kansas. They did millions of dollars worth of damage. After their attack every plant – every single plant – was reduced to a barren stalk, stripped of all leaves and buds. Families were bereft of income, and had nowhere to turn, all because of some insects.
Insects who work together and don't care who is "top dog."
Ouch. See where we are headed?
If the church unites we are a great force to be reckoned with; the more united we are as the body of Christ, the more wonderful things we can accomplish in His name!
No wonder Jesus prayed in John 17 that we may be one as He and the Father are one. We should put aside foolish differences for the sake of Jesus Christ. We should not care about who is in the spotlight, but about Who is receiving the glory.
If we concentrate on cooperation, instead of on competition, we will shake the world for our Lord.
Are we team players?
1 Cor. 12:4-6 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all people..
Unity in purpose! Can't stop it, for good or ill.
ReplyDeleteI wrote a whole long comment here, but have deleted as I need to think it through. You again have given me much to ponder! :) Bless you x
Where there are flawed humans, there will be flawed church members, and it's so hard to not get feelings hurt or be resentful sometimes. That's just part of our sinful nature I guess. But Man oh Man!! What we can accomplish when we put aside politics, self, and worrying about who is top dog!!
ReplyDeleteI heard it said once, "Church work is something totally different from the "work of the church", and I have to agree whole heartedly!!