Jewel # 257 (Aug. 14, 2016)

“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 Awkward Manatee

“He looks to the ends of the earth, and sees under the whole heaven . . . and unto man He said,

Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.”

(Job 28:24,28)

Few people have ever seen a manatee, mainly because this large water animal lives only in tropical waters off the coast of Florida and along the coasts of the West Indies, South America and Africa.  This mammal spends its life underwater, in both freshwater and saltwater, coming up to breath with only the nostrils at the top of its snout breaking the surface.  The  manatee may weigh as much as 1300 pounds.

The skin on these 8 to 13-foot long creatures is greyish black and without fur.  They are quite gentle and affectionate toward each other, often swimming side by side and sharing any available food supply.  Because they are clumsy and slow moving, they are unable to come out on land to enjoy the sun’s warmth, like a hippopotamus can.  They are actually helpless on land.

A manatee looks somewhat like a seal, all the way from its large, bristly moustached mouth to its huge, flat, rounded tail.  Because of its appetite for underwater grass and plants, it is sometimes call a sea cow.  Heavy and bulky, it is supported by an extremely large muscle along the whole length of its body, as well as by a framework of strong, heavy ribs.  Having no hind legs, movement through water is achieved by its large tail and hind quarters, assisted by paddle shaped front legs.  These front legs are also necessary to maintain balance as well as to dig plants from the ocean bottom.

The Creator has given manatees everything needed for their unusual way of life, including the replacement of teeth so vital to them.  As their front teeth wear away from constant cutting and chewing of sea grasses, they drop out.  Promptly, all those behind move forward and additional new ones soon fill in at the back of the mouth.  Isn’t that a very interesting part of God’s wonderful provision for them?

A female will have just one calf a year, born underwater and immediately taken to the surface for it first breath of air.  The mother will often assist in this until the calf learns to swim up for air without help. She also brings the calf to the surface for nursing, keeping its head above water until finished.

Does God care about manatees?  Yes, He does.  They have been under His watchful care ever since the time of their creation.  You also are always in His care.  The psalmist was thinking of this when he wrote, “Happy is he . . . whose hope is in the Lord his God; which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is” (Psalm 146:5-6).

Are you one of these happy people whose hope and trust are in the Lord?

Love you all, Grandpa  

Jewel # 256 (Aug. 2, 2016)

“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 Graceful Springbok

“O Lord . . . Thou hast created all things, and for 

Thy pleasure they are and were created.”

(Revelation 4:11)  

Springboks are one of the most graceful members of the antelope family.  They live on the prairies of Africa where they share the friendly company of zebras, giraffes, wildebeest and many others.  However, they are sometimes victims of hungry lions that capture them by creeping up unseen and then making a sudden leap before there is opportunity to escape.  Wild dogs are also among their enemies, but the dogs usually pick out the sick, old, or very young that has wandered away from the herd.

Springboks are well named, for one of the features that helps identify them is their practice of suddenly springing high in the air.  They appear to do this often just for the fun of it.  They seem to be one of the Creator’s “happy to be alive” animals.  It is a lovely sight to see them leaping this way on their long and thin but strong legs.

Springboks are delicately coloured animals, appearing to wear a tan cape over their backs and down the outsides of their legs.  The remainder of their bodies is pure white.  Crowning their heads is a pair of horns.  These horns extend for about 18 inches from their heads and gently curve forward at the top.  Springboks have appealing white faces with stripes between the eyes and nose, as if skillfully drawn with soft crayons, large deer-like eyes and long, erect ears.

These animals, which do not search out shade while browsing, seem to prefer the open country with its extremely hot sunshine.  Their usual food is the wild grasses of the prairie, but when these are hard to find, they will substitute leaves and tender parts of shrubs and will even eat roots dug out of the ground with their sharp horns.

In times of drought and when food runs low, thousands together make long migrations to greener pastures.

We might ask, “How do they know where to go and how do they know when to return?”  Those who have studied their ways cannot answer these questions, but to us who know of the Creator’s care over all living things, it is not difficult to realize that He is the One who directs them to go and gives them the sense when it is time to return to their native land.

Several Bible verses declare this care so well: “These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their food in due season.  That Thou givest them they gather:  Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good” (Psalm 104:27-28).

Have you thanked Him that His same loving hand is stretched out for you too?  

He invites every boy and girl to trust in Him and know Him as their loving and very own Saviour. 

Love you all,

Grandpa         

Jewel # 255 (July 25, 2016)

“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 Noisy Cicada

“God does great things and unsearchable; marvellous things without number.”

(Job 5:9)

The periodical cicadas, also called locusts, have the longest life cycle of all insects and are seen just once every 13 or 17 years, depending on their species.  They appear in late May or early June, mostly in the northeastern United States, but some show up in the Midwest and northern California as well.  The ones appearing this year will have emerged in parts of Maryland, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

Most people become aware of them in early summer when they come out of the ground, sometimes millions of them, climbing tree trunks or anything upright and shedding their skins.  In the next few hours, their bodies harden as their large wings unfold, growing stronger and becoming colourful.  They can then fly short distances into trees.

Males make an ear-piercing buzzing song to attract females.  the shrill notes are not made with their mouths but are produced by vibrating drum-like membranes on the undersides of their bodies.  Sometimes males will group together, producing a chorus of song.  At times they will suddenly become totally silent for several seconds—as if by signal—and then all begin their shrill buzzing again.

These one-and-a-half-inch - to two inch-long insects with bulging eyes are harmless to people but do serious damage to tree branches.  The females make deep slits on the undersides of twigs and branches for depositing their eggs.  These twigs are so badly injured by these slits that the tips usually die.  A few weeks after the eggs are laid, the outdoors gradually becomes quiet again as the adult life cycle is over and they begin to die.  Their work of producing a new generation has been completed.

In a few weeks, the eggs hatch and the little nymphs appear and drop to the ground.  They immediately burrow into the soil, not to be seen for another 13 or 17 years, unless someone uncovers a few when digging in the soil.  What do they live on in the soil all those years?  As far a scientists can tell, they feed on tree roots.  This does not seem to hurt the trees.

There are other species of cicadas which have a shorter life span, staying underground for one year and others for two to five years.  These are called dog-day cicadas.  Because different groups develop at different times, some adults appear each year, and their buzzing songs are heard in late July or early August.

The more we discover and investigate the great variety of animals, birds, fish and insects the Creator has placed on the earth, the more we are impressed with His wisdom in not only creating them, but in caring for them as well.  We should say like King David did many years ago - 

“I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth all Thy marvellous works” 

(Psalm 9:1).

Love you all,

Grandpa  

Jewel # 254 (July 16, 2016)

“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,

Birds of Paradise

(Part 2)

"I will praise Thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will

show forth all Thy marvellous works.”

(Psalm 9:1)

In a previous article we commented on the beautifully coloured feathers, plumes and unusual features of the various species of birds of paradise.  The most outstanding feature that most have are two slender wires crossing each other as they extend beyond their tails.  Sometimes these curl to form a pair of circles or other shapes. On some birds there are 6 of these wires and on others 12.  These larger numbers of wires usually form small coils, resting snugly against the tails and not extending beyond.  Let’s look at a few of them.

One called Count Raggi’s has 12 wires.  He is bright yellow all over except for red feet and a bright green balloon-like head.  He is unusually active in winning a mate.  First he dances about on a tree limb to attract a female’s attention, then spreads his wings upward, and finally turns nearly upside down to make his feathers flash more brilliantly than ever.  If the female doesn’t respond, he repeats the performance for another one when he has the opportunity.

The king is also outstanding.  He is a brilliant red over his head and throat with a green band over his chest, dividing the red from a white underbody.  From his short, purple tail, two long wires extend with small balls of purple feathers on their ends.        

Another has the name King of Saxony and looks almost like a robin—with dark top feathers and an orange breast.  His distinctive feature is a pair of long, glossy plumes—one blue ad the other brown—extending from the back of his head beyond his tail by a distance of more than twice the length of his body.  The Creator has given him these pretty features rather than the wires most others display.

The Superb has a different arrangement.  An olive-green body and wide spreading tail contrast with his bright blue chest and short wings of the same colour.  He has no wires extending behind him.

The white-plumbed lacks the brilliant colours of the others but has a prominent display of long, fluffy, white plumes extending from his back.  He can raise these over his body to look like a most beautiful cape.

The beautiful feathers of these birds, as well as a wide variety of other birds, are possibly one of the greatest displays of God’s visible handiwork.  However, He has other beautiful designs in fish and and animal groupings.  In contrast, it is often the ordinary-coloured creatures that have the greatest skills and the most amazing ways of life.  They are all part of God’s creation, and we should think of Him and His wisdom when we have occasion to observe any of them.

Love you all

Grandpa 

Jewel # 252 (June 23, 2016)

“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 World’s Laziest Animal

“He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster.”

(Proverbs 18:9) 

The sloth lives in the tropics of Central and South America and is among the strangest of all animals.  A full-grown sloth is about two feet long and has almost no tail or ears.  Its hair is long and coarse, but its face is bare.  It has a blunt nose on a head that doesn’t seem to have any neck.  Some species can turn their heads almost completely around without moving their bodies, which suits this sluggish creature just fine since it will sometimes stay in the same spot all day.

No wonder the Bible doesn’t have anything good to say about the sloth.  In fact, our opening verse indicates that it is shameful for people to be like these lazy creatures.  Another verse cautions, “Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep; and an idle soul shall suffer hunger” (Proverbs 19:15). 

Perhaps the Creator allowed the sloth to have its lazy habits to give us an example of what is not pleasing to Him.  Instead of being slothful, we are instructed, “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might"  (Ecclesiastes 9:10).  

The sloth lives among the trees of the tropics where it hangs upside down most of the time, using it three sharp claws on each foot to securely grip a branch.  After sleeping this way, it is quite content to spend its waking hours in the same position, slowly munching leaves, buds and young twigs within its reach.  

Because it seldom moves, it is well hidden from its enemies.  The sloth occasionally comes down to the ground where it moves clumsily about, but very soon it climbs back up the tree to its lazy way of life.

Unlike most other animals, the sloth doesn’t bother to groom itself.  As a result, its hair becomes the home of numerous bugs, ticks and moths, and some sloths even have a growth of green algae on their hair.  This certainly is not an animal you would want to touch or have for a pet!

This creature is an illustration of how bad habits and laziness are used by Satan to produce the ugly stains of sin that leave their mark on many people.  But, thank the Lord, all who come to the Lord Jesus Christ can be washed clean from their sins.  

In 1 John 1:7,9 we read this wonderful message: “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son cleanses us from all sin. . . . If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”    

Certainly the sloth is a sad example of laziness.  How much better it is to please the Lord by obeying His request: “Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men” (Colossians 3:23). 

Love you all.

Grandpa

Jewel # 251 (June 11, 2016)

“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

Birds of Paradise 

Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field,

and every fowl of the air.”

(Genesis 2:19)

There are more that 40 species of birds of paradise.  Each is so outstandingly beautiful that when the explorer Magellan first took some back to Spain, the people said they were so dazzling that these birds could only have come from paradise.  And so that’s how they got their name.

It takes the male five or six years to get his mature plumage, but once he has it, the use of his feathers in courting a female companion is very important to him.  The female does not have the beautiful colours.  This is a wise provision of the Creator, because in her dull colours she is not easily spotted by enemies that would like to catch her or her eggs.

Birds of paradise live from sea level up to 6000 feet above sea level in New Guinea, Australia and a few South Sea islands.  The males have the most brilliant and extraordinary plumage of any bird in the world.  Usually these birds nest in trees, often near the very top, and generally lay one to three spotted, white eggs.  When these hatch out, they become the full responsibility of the female, as by then the male bird has flown away to find another companion.  Only on rare occasions does a male help a little in feeding the young ones.  This behaviour may seem disappointing to many of us since we appreciate it when both parents share responsibilities and are loyal to each other.

The diet of these birds includes fruit, berries, seeds, insects, frogs and reptiles.  These birds have stout bodies and are heavy-billed, and without the long plumes and “wires,” they vary from the size of a robin to that of a crow.

Noted for their loud, clear calls that can be heard for quite a distance, as well as their beautiful colouring, the different species have been given a wide variety of plumage.  Some have a pair of wire-like tendrils anchored to their backs and extending out in unusual ways two or three feet past their tails.  Also, beneath the wings of some are long, delicate plumes in contrasting colours or sometimes in pure white.  These can be raised and spread out like a cape over their bodies.

All plainly show the pleasure of the Lord God in creating so many beautiful varieties of these birds, as well as uncountable others that have obeyed His command and multiplied throughout the entire earth.  There are many of these birds that have never been seen by man, but the eye of their Creator is always on them. 

Love you all

Grandpa

Jewel # 250 (May 31, 2016)

“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

Slave-Maker Ants

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,

walks about seeking whom he may devour.”

(1 Peter 5:8)

In the deserts of Arizona, there are ants known as the western slave-maker ants.   Unlike other ants, these are not capable of hunting food for themselves or for their young, and they could not live without other ants doing this for them. 

Because of this inability, slave-maker ants make raids on another species of ants known as the formicas, and here’s what takes place.  Several times a year the leaders in the nest send out scouts to find formica nests.  When the scouts find these nests, they come back and somehow tell the others the “good news.”  Then a huge army of several thousand takes off behind their scouts, following them to the unsuspecting victims.

With no warning, the slave-makers march right into the formicas’ nest, but they don’t attempt to fight them.  Instead, they spray the entire area with a chemical from their bodies.  This chemical does not bother the raiders, but it is so unpleasant to the formicas that the queen and all her workers get out as fast as possible.  However, they cannot take with them the thousands of their babies, known as pupae, which have not yet hatched.

That is exactly what the raiders want to happen.  Each raider grabs one pupa and carries it back to its own nest.  Thousands are carried back where some are eaten by the hungry raiders.  Most are carefully looked after and in a short time develop into full-sized formica ants.  These captives are taught how to go after food to bring back for themselves and for their captors.  Of course, these newly hatched ants can’t remember anything about their former home and fit right into this pattern, apparently accepting the fact that finding food for the others is their job.

The cruel and selfish ways of the slave-makers bring to mind our opening Bible verse, telling us to beware of Satan who is always wanting to devour us.  Another verse in 2 Timothy 2:26 talks of people who are caught in “the snare of the devil . . . taken captive by him at his will.”  Just like the slave-making ants, the devil wants to make us his slaves and make us serve him.  Every person in the world is often tempted by him, although many do not realize Satan is their cruel master.

But for those who know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour, there are many other Bible verses to help us resist the evil one.  “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4).  James 4:7-8 tells where to turn for help:  “Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you."  

We are invited to turn to God in every trouble, and we can be sure of His loving help. 

Love you all,

Grandpa