Plant Seeds - The Squirrel - 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.

Plant Seeds – The Squirrel

Did you know that many trees don’t just grow randomly, they were planted? Several animals plant trees with the most prolific being the squirrel. Wait a minute! I thought squirrels ate seeds and nuts? They do eat a lot, but they also store them underground all over the forest, burying them at just the right depth to take root. Sometimes squirrels forget where they left their seeds and nuts, sometimes they get distracted, and sometimes they don’t come back for other reasons. The result is a seed that grows into a tree!

We get to plant better seeds than those squirrels:

I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:6

Discussion:

1. Jesus told us the seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). He tells a parable where a man scatters seed on the road, in the rocks, in the weeds, and in freshly plowed ground. Which one do you think grew the best? Is your heart ready to receive his Word?

2. One of my favorite things to see is a tree growing through a rock or a sidewalk. The hardness of the surface shouldn’t allow a tree to grow there, but there is mighty power in that little seed. When we plant seeds of faith in hardened hearts God can make them grow and break through the hardest people!

3. Sometimes we think we are too little or insignificant to share Jesus, but that little squirrel is very small in comparison to the oaks and redwoods it is planting. Is the power in the squirrel or the seed? Is God’s power in the messenger or the message?

The seed of the Word continues to do its secret, invisible work when the minister has gone home and is resting in his bed–and indeed, long after he is laid in his grave. ~ Matthew Henry

Save Others - The Gopher Tortoise - 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.

Save Others – The Gopher Tortoise

The Gopher Tortoise is the state reptile of Georgia. It is called a “Keystone Species” because it is so important to so many different animals. This tortoise is perfectly designed to dig, and dig is what they do! They can dig a burrow forty feet long. If there is a forest fire, their burrows are a safe haven for many other animals: owls, frogs, snakes, rabbits, insects, and mice flee to safety inside of the Gopher Tortoise’s burrow. The temperature outside might be 1,000°F, yet inside the burrow it’s a pleasant 65°F.

That wonderful little Gopher Tortoise doesn’t do anything to protect its burrow; it lets all come in and provides deliverance from the fire:

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. ~ 1 Corinthians 9:19

Discussion:

1. Did you know that many theologians think that Noah’s Ark was far bigger than it needed to be? There was no excuse for sinners who drowned outside of it except that they wouldn’t trust God and get in! The Gopher Tortoise’s burrow has been called an Ecological Ark because it saves so many animals during a fire. How is Jesus like Noah’s Ark?

2. Can heaven be crowded? Some people scoff at the size of the New Jerusalem, they think it’s far too big. But it’s big enough to hold all of the sinners who would ever come to Jesus! He turns none away who draw near to him in faith. Unfortunately, he will turn many away on judgment day who refuse to come in faith. Read Matthew 7:21-27 and consider why he would let you come in.

3. Do you have a favorite missionary? How did they tell people about Jesus? Who can you tell about Jesus? Read Jude 22–23 and pray about how you can love people in difficult circumstances.

Have you no wish for others to be saved? Then you are not saved yourself! Be sure of that! ~ Charles Spurgeon

Lay Aside Every Burden - Birds - 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.

Lay Aside Every Burden – Birds

This one is kind of gross, but it’s more amazing than gross! Birds that fly in the air weigh as little as possible. One of the ways they stay light is they don’t carry their waste around with them. When they have to go, they go! They don’t have the muscles or endurance to carry around anything they don’t need.

Birds can fly better without all of that extra weight and they teach us a principle worthy carrying:

Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us! ~ Hebrews 12:1

Discussion:

1. Not everything is bad that slows you down. Some things are necessary, like carrying a heavy fire extinguisher to put out a fire. If you’re running to save someone from drowning you should carry something that floats. Other things are unnecessary. What are some things you wouldn’t need if you were running to put out a fire or save someone from drowning? What are some things you’re carrying in your life that you could lay aside as you run the race Jesus has set before you?

2. Do you live in a place with burrs or “hitchhikers” that stick to your clothes and shoes? Sin and weight can do the same thing—let’s get rid of them!

3. What is the difference between a weight and a sin? Some weights that can hold us back are possessions, hobbies, money, and sports. Sometimes good things can keep us back from the best thing: knowing God! Sins like unforgiveness, bitterness, laziness, gluttony, and greed can also weigh us down. Is anything weighing you down?

A man may run with heavy burdens on his back, but he cannot run well, nor will he win the prize. ~ Matthew Henry

Thrive in Your Gifting - The Penguin - 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.

Thrive in Your Gifting – The Penguin

Do you think penguins are sad that they can’t fly in the sky? I don’t think so, because Penguins do fly! They just do it underwater! Unlike airborne birds, Penguins create thrust both on the up flap and the down flap of their wings. Some can swim up to twenty miles per hour! They are designed to shoot out of the water at incredible speeds by capturing air under their feathers and compressing it like a rocket! I think it would be fun to be a penguin!

They have different gifts that provide different abilities!

Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them! ~ Romans 12:6

Discussion:

1. Which of these animals is best equipped to climb a tree: A goldfish, a monkey, a penguin, or an elephant? If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will fail miserably. What is that fish good at? What gifts has God given you? What are you good at? Are there any gifts you wish he had given you? 1 Corinthians 14:1 says there are gifts you can gain through pursuit and effort; the most important is the ability to share Jesus and his Word faithfully! Do you have that gift? Do you want it?

2. It’s so tempting to look down on others who don’t have our gifts. But they have gifts of their own. What is something someone else is good at that you’re not? Are you thankful for them and their gift?

3. The penguin can teach us that just because we can’t do what someone else does, we can still accomplish God’s will in our lives! Just like the animal kingdom is full of different animals, so is a church built up of many Christians with many different gifts! Do you have a local church?

You did not earn your gift, you did not choose your gift, and you did not develop it by human ingenuity. God designed you, saved you, and gifted you uniquely for the building up of the body of Christ. ~ John MacArthur

Hypocrites - The Ostrich - 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.

Hypocrites – The Ostrich

Ostriches are amazing birds that can run incredibly fast. You usually don’t hear about birds running, but the Ostrich has to run because it cannot fly; it is too heavy and its wings are too small. The ostrich is also notorious for not caring for its babies, it goes through all the work to lay an egg, then it sometimes forgets about it, or even steps on it!

God designed it in such a way to help us not be like the ostrich:

The wings of the ostrich wave proudly, but are they the pinions and plumage of love? ~ Job 39:13

Discussion:

1.      A hypocrite is a person who puts on a show or a mask to pretend to be someone they are not. How can you tell if a person is a Christian? Is it because they say they are a Christian? Or is it because they bear fruit in keeping with repentance? James tells us that we can see that a person is a Christian by their works (James 2:24). Can you think of any people, past or present, who claimed to be Christians but did not bear good fruit?

2.     If an ostrich decided it wanted to fly, could it work out, strengthen its wings, lose weight, and take to the air? If God wanted the ostrich to fly, he would have had to design it completely differently; if God wants someone to go from a hypocrite to a Christian, he is going to have to completely remake them! We call that transformation (Romans 12:2).

3.     Jesus wrote to the church in Sardis, “I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead!” (Revelation 3:1). It’s a scary thought that we might look like Christians but have no Christ in us. Read Galatians 2:20 and pray that Christ would live in you.

Salvation is not a reformation of behavior but a transformation of character. ~ Martyn Lloyd-Jones