Jewel # 453 (August 20, 2021)

 

And they shall be Mine, saith the  Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS.”

Malachi 3:17 

To my dear grandchildren

The Strange Hoatzin

“These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their food in due season.”  Psalm 104:27

The hoatzin is a rather large bird, about two feet long and weighing about two pounds.  It is one of the most colourful birds in the world.  It is a native of South America.  It is found along the banks of the Amazon and other rivers.  Its main food is leaves and the fruit of plants growing in the marshes, as well as occasional small fish, crabs or frogs.  It is not a good flyer and spends most of its time on the ground or in low brush, except when nesting.

An impressive crest composed of a dozen or so thin black and yellow feathers stands up in a fan shape on the top of its head, which is deep blue.  Its neck, brown on the back and over its wings, is marked with white stripes.  The front is solid white between its strong sharp beak and its breast, where deep orange takes over down to its gray legs.  Long tail feathers on the young are gray with light yellow tips, but on adults they are dark brown with a wide yellow band at the tips.  Hoatzins are unusual looking but very colourful birds.

The mother hoatzin lays as many as five eggs in loosely woven nests which are built as high as 20 feet above the ground alongside a river or stream.  The young hatch out in about a month, and during the first two years of life they often stay with their mother to help take care of the new hatchlings.  If they are not available, other friendly hoatzins become helpers.

Young hoatzins are born with claws on their wings which they use to climb on tree branches until they learn to fly.  When they get older, the claws fall off.

If an unprotected young one in this high nest is threatened and no helper is near, it will dive head first into the water below, swimming under the surface for quite a distance.  Then, when the danger is gone, it will slowly work its way back through the brush.  When it reaches its own tree, it will climb to its nest.

Do you think the Creator knows about these hoatzins, so hidden in the jungles?  He certainly does, and as the above Bible verse says, He provides for all their needs.  But His love for you and me is much greater.  He says, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).

He invites you to know Him as your Saviour, to enjoy His love while still on earth, and then share it more fully in the wonder of heaven for all eternity.  Will you accept His loving-kindness and thank Him for it today?  “Today if ye will hear His voice harden not your heart" (Psalm 95:7-8)

Love you all - Grandpa       

Jewel # 452 (July 31, 2021)

 

“And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS.”

Malachi 3:17

To my dear grandchildren

Some Amazing Fish  (Part 2)

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters;

these see . . . His wonders in the deep.    Psalm 107:23-24

A bright- red scorpionfish makes its home off the cost of Mexico.  It's scary to have one of these approach you underwater—its big, ugly mouths grins at you and its black, bulging eyes look you over.  However, it is quite harmless.  Its red skin looks like it has loose patches ready to fall off.

The main enemy of pufferfish are sharks, but they must sneak up on the puffer or they are faced with a big problem.  When a puffer thinks a shark is after it, it suddenly puffs up its body into a large ball up to three times its original size.  The shark doesn’t like the looks of this and quickly leaves.  But all the puffer has done is swallow water (or air if near the surface), which makes it puff up like a balloon.  Then it turns over on its back and floats to the surface like a piece of drift wood.  Almost all pufferfish are extremely poisonous, but sharks are immune to their poison, so the Lord has given them this extra way to protect themselves.

The flying fish of of the Sargasso Sea lay eggs that look like seaweed plants where they live.  After hatching, the baby fish look even more like a part of these plants than there parents.  Even close up, it is almost impossible to tell which is a plant and which is the fish.

The eight-inch anableps of tropical America, sometimes called the four-eyed fish, adapt to both fresh and salt water.  These swim along the surface with the top part of their bulging eyes seeing what is floating or moving at the surface, while the lower part at the same time watches for things below.  Does it make you wonder how it knows what to focus on when there is something of interest both above and below the surface?

When the female European bitterling is ready to lay eggs, she hunts for a mussel shellfish.  Finding one, she drops a tube from her body and inserts it into the flesh so gently that the mussel doesn’t seem to know anything is happening.  The three or four dozen eggs deposited stay inside the mussel for about a month; then they hatch and swim away.  The mussel seems none the worse for its role.

There are many fish barely known to mankind, but all are known to the Creator who had a purpose in placing them in the waters of the earth.  While these things are interesting, the most important thing  for us to know is the love of the Lord Jesus who died on the cross for us and who invites us to come to Him as helpless sinners, accepting His invitation to receive Him into our hearts as Lord and Saviour.  

Have you done this?  There is no other way to enter heaven.

Love you all - Grandpa 

(to be continued)