Prickly People - The Porcupine - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Prickly People – The Porcupine

Some people are hard to love. The porcupine is hard to love too, because from any direction you approach, he has sharp quills that are specially designed to stick into those who get too close. The quills don’t care if you were trying to hurt the porcupine or if you just accidentally brushed up against them. Some people are described as pokey, divisive, or just difficult to love.

Unlovable people are our opportunity to love like Jesus:

The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. ~ 2 Timothy 2:24–26

Discussion:

1. Some people are very divisive. They just want to argue and cut and tear and belittle. Wisdom requires us to consider such people with our pastors and other Christians, but God can save anybody! We need to love them, pray for them, and answer them gently. Do you know any people like this? How are you like this?

2. Hard to love people need friends. Jesus said there would be a reward for people who befriend these sorts of people (Matthew 25:34–40). The hymn, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, contains a wonderful lyric, “Jesus sought me when a stranger, wandering from the fold of God.” How can you be like Jesus and seek someone who needs to know the friend who sticks closer than a brother?

3. Sometimes it hurts to love pokey people. Were we easy or difficult to love? Who loved their enemies best in all of history? Read Romans 5:6–8 and 1 John 4:19 to find out!

If people can be taught to hate, they can be taught to love! We must find the way, you and I, no matter how long it takes! ~Betsie Ten Boom

False Teachers - The Wolf - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

False Teachers – The Wolf

Wolves are scary creatures, especially if you meet a hungry pack! While some people raise wolves and these pets can be nice, the vast majority of wolves would rather eat you.

The Bible contains no lack of warnings against the dangers of false teachers:

Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain. ~ Ezekiel 22:27

Discussion:

1.      It has been said that people only want something from you, or you are in the way of what they want. This is the perfect description of the wolf, they want to eat the flock, and they want the shepherd out of the way so they can dine in peace. Read Romans 12:10 and Philippians 2:3 and consider how the Christian is called to be different than a wolf.

2.     Jesus says that wolves can disguise themselves as sheep (Matthew 7:15–16); how could you tell a real wolf apart from a real sheep? How can you tell a spiritual wolf apart from a spiritual sheep? Will you always be able to tell the difference at a glance?

3.     Does Jesus not know that the world is a very dangerous place full of wolves? Why does he send us out as lambs into such danger? For one reason, he is showing that he is both the lamb who was slain and the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. Can you think of any other reasons? Romans 8:35–39 gives a hard, but good, answer.

The pastor ought to have two voices: one for gathering the sheep, and another for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. ~ John Calvin