Knowing what to do at the right time
But if we are living in the light as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. – 1 John 1: 7,8 (TLB)
As I’ve had a concern for observing God’s creation [which is an excellent resource for writing, drawing, and painting], I picked up something that had to do with an interesting creature called the shrimp. Remember the shrimp that some people have called the “cock roach of the sea.” You’ve probably read reports that this strange creature has an exceptional way of shedding its skin six or eight times a year through a process called molting {to shed an outer covering such as feathers, cuticle or skin}. For the shrimp, apparently getting rid of the old is superseded by the new skin already growing inside. By scraping around on the rocks on the ocean floor, the shrimp begins to shed and loosen the older outer layer that soon drops off completely. A new look emerges.
At the time of each molting, another interesting thing happens. In response to some built-in instinct every shrimp deliberately places a grain of sand on its head almost always in the same spot. At every molting cycle the small rock is discarded along with the old layer of skin and a completely grain of sand is put in place. As it was explained by the marine biologist, these “small pieces of stone” were absolutely necessary for the shrimp’s survival. Without them, it would be constantly confused and disoriented. Whenever surging tides and sweeping currents set in, they are tumble over and over upside down. It is only by feeling the minute tug of gravity on the grain of sand [rock] in their head that they can recognize whether they are upside down
or right side up. What an amazing thing to imagine. God, in His great love and wisdom, provided this process to enable the lowly shrimp to keep a balance amid turbulent elements of its habitat.
How could the shrimp reveal its survival? As you have figured it out, someone was inspired to investigate this phenomenon of keeping balance under strong current.
But if we are living in the light as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. – 1 John 1: 7,8 (TLB)
As I’ve had a concern for observing God’s creation [which is an excellent resource for writing, drawing, and painting], I picked up something that had to do with an interesting creature called the shrimp. Remember the shrimp that some people have called the “cock roach of the sea.” You’ve probably read reports that this strange creature has an exceptional way of shedding its skin six or eight times a year through a process called molting {to shed an outer covering such as feathers, cuticle or skin}. For the shrimp, apparently getting rid of the old is superseded by the new skin already growing inside. By scraping around on the rocks on the ocean floor, the shrimp begins to shed and loosen the older outer layer that soon drops off completely. A new look emerges.
At the time of each molting, another interesting thing happens. In response to some built-in instinct every shrimp deliberately places a grain of sand on its head almost always in the same spot. At every molting cycle the small rock is discarded along with the old layer of skin and a completely grain of sand is put in place. As it was explained by the marine biologist, these “small pieces of stone” were absolutely necessary for the shrimp’s survival. Without them, it would be constantly confused and disoriented. Whenever surging tides and sweeping currents set in, they are tumble over and over upside down. It is only by feeling the minute tug of gravity on the grain of sand [rock] in their head that they can recognize whether they are upside down
or right side up. What an amazing thing to imagine. God, in His great love and wisdom, provided this process to enable the lowly shrimp to keep a balance amid turbulent elements of its habitat.How could the shrimp reveal its survival? As you have figured it out, someone was inspired to investigate this phenomenon of keeping balance under strong current.
Well, a while back, a specialist in the field of marine biology conducted an experiment on several shrimp that had been placed in a large control water tank or aquarium. At the bottom of the unit, the specialist placed steel like [very small] fillings instead of sand. When the molting time came, each one of the shrimp picked up a piece of metal instead of a rock and placed it in the center of its head. Then the biologist brought a powerful electromagnet, which would alter the way the shrimp would move. With the electromagnet placed on top of the aquarium, the shrimp flipped upside down and began to swim around in an inverted position. The pull of the magnet on the metal filling was stronger than the tug of gravity and they believed that up was down and down was up. Think of what further investigation would bring about. Check it out! The specialist brought in an ocean shrimp and placed it into the tank. Naturally this new kid on the block was paddling around in the proper upright position. The other inverted shrimp were those that had always depended on several things that were right side up: 1) their feelings, and 2) what the majority around them were doing. But now that their whole lives were disturbed by a piece of metal, they were deceived into believing a lie.
There is an another spiritual lesson in this scenario. All of us are in a large aquarium as we live daily in this world. Powerful forces [like a magnet] become aware to tempt us into turning away from God. To turn us upside down spiritually is the devil’s strategy. Outside {attractive} forces easily flip those who trust in feeling and majority opinion. Consoled by the presence of so many others around them doing the same thing, the inevitably being to see things in their cockeyed view. They reverse all the signs in order to read and understand them better. They develop firm convictions that they are balanced ok, while everyone else is wrong. At some point in time, they would see the error of their ways. Anyone who goes contrary to their perceptions is branded as a fanatic or a simple troublemaker. A solid point is brought out! You cannot determine what is wrong or right by subjectivity or allowing feeling to take over or by the way others go about doing. There has to be warning signal from some where to set the things in the way it should be.
In the reference taking from 1John 1: 7,8, the Holy Spirit gives a warning that sin, by its very nature, brings death [distorted-inverted spirituality]. This is a fact as certain as the law of gravity (that all the shrimp in the aquarium experienced). Jesus did not die for his own sins; he had none. Instead he died for the sins of the world. When we commit our lives to him and identify ourselves to him, his death becomes ours. He has paid the penalty for our sins and his blood has purified us. Unlike the shrimp, what we place in our heads allows us to live true and upright lives to the glory of God. Selah
There is an another spiritual lesson in this scenario. All of us are in a large aquarium as we live daily in this world. Powerful forces [like a magnet] become aware to tempt us into turning away from God. To turn us upside down spiritually is the devil’s strategy. Outside {attractive} forces easily flip those who trust in feeling and majority opinion. Consoled by the presence of so many others around them doing the same thing, the inevitably being to see things in their cockeyed view. They reverse all the signs in order to read and understand them better. They develop firm convictions that they are balanced ok, while everyone else is wrong. At some point in time, they would see the error of their ways. Anyone who goes contrary to their perceptions is branded as a fanatic or a simple troublemaker. A solid point is brought out! You cannot determine what is wrong or right by subjectivity or allowing feeling to take over or by the way others go about doing. There has to be warning signal from some where to set the things in the way it should be.
In the reference taking from 1John 1: 7,8, the Holy Spirit gives a warning that sin, by its very nature, brings death [distorted-inverted spirituality]. This is a fact as certain as the law of gravity (that all the shrimp in the aquarium experienced). Jesus did not die for his own sins; he had none. Instead he died for the sins of the world. When we commit our lives to him and identify ourselves to him, his death becomes ours. He has paid the penalty for our sins and his blood has purified us. Unlike the shrimp, what we place in our heads allows us to live true and upright lives to the glory of God. Selah
