Psalm 139:15-16 “You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother’s body. When I was put together there, you saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in your book before I was one day old.”
When I mention a hippopotamus what do you picture? Definitely not a graceful deer or gazelle that's for sure. Maybe more like “ugly”, “fat”, “lazy”, and probably many more. What is there to admire about a hippo anyway? They are like a large rock that could tip over any unsuspecting boat that may be in their way.
If you have visited a zoo with a hippo, you may have wondered what their purpose is. All they do is lie around in the water sleeping all day. If you're lucky you've seen one out of the water but may wonder what this huge animal can do with his short fat legs, bulky body, and oversized head.
Luckily, at one zoo, visitors got to see a new side of a hippopotamus. They built a large glass aquarium where visitors could view the hippo from a different angle- underwater. To the visitors surprise they learned a hippo was actually very agile and graceful and could stay underwater for long periods of time. Although large and cumbersome they proved to be very strong swimmers.
You see, a hippo was made for the underwater murkiness of the African rivers. A hippo eats an enormous amount of river grass that grows along the banks of the rivers. Spending most of their time slowly moving through the rivers they become known as channel clearers keeping the rivers free of blockage that might cause floods.
Yes, you may consider hippos are mostly ugly, but God gifted them in their own way, and they too have a valuable role to play.
Have you ever encountered someone unusual and awkward and wondered why? What about yourself? Do you ever feel ugly, out of place, cumbersome to others and wonder why? Just like God created every element of nature- plant, mineral, bird, fish, and animal- to fulfill a purpose with unique abilities. Those around us including you, have been designed with unique abilities to fulfill a purpose.
1 Corinthians 12:25-28 tells us that each of us have been made to work in harmony with each other. If one part suffers all suffer, when one part is glad all are glad. We were all made to help each other, and all have an important role to play. 1 Peter 4:10-11- God has given you all unique spiritual gifts to use to help each other and serve Jesus.
Every element in this world, including humans, God made to work together, like our bodies. Have you ever broken a bone or lost use of something for a brief period? No matter how small the part is, when one part of your body is out of commission it affects how the rest of your body functions and sometimes hinders the body from functioning correctly. That is how we all are meant to work with each other. No matter how “different”, how “ugly”, how “unique” someone or something is, God created everything to work in harmony to help this world go round.
The question is, are you too busy judging or criticizing others or are you doing your part to serve Jesus the way He has given you to serve? Are you busy looking at the “ugly” hippos or living like Jesus is called to us all in Romans 12:16 “Live in peace with each other. Do not be proud but make friends with those who seem unimportant. Do not think how smart you are.”
Each day strive to look past the eyes of the world and through the eyes of Jesus. Live using the gifts God has given you to help make this world go round until the day of salvation.
Have you been trying to further your Bible study times or dig deeper in God's Word but haven't found the right ideas yet? Maybe you just want something new and refreshing other then the reading the Bible through the year plan. Here you can join me and others in furthering our Bible study time by going through different chapters in the Bible along with short study guides to help us along. We have already been through a few books of the Bible and are in the middle of 1 Peter. If you want to join please jump right in or if you would like the other days and their lessons either contact me through my many media's or simply go to my previous blogs to find the links.
Today we will continue with 1 Peter 3:1-12
Lesson 5- 1 Peter 3:1-12- https://www.docdroid.net/2GfXCc6/1-peter-week-5-docx
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