Sticks

Right before we moved from our farmstead in Montana to South Dakota, my son Andrei received 40 Stick insects plus a terrarium habitat, for free. Now, this guy LOVES bugs and Sticks are up there at the top of his list. My, how he loves these creatures. When he got them, they had only just recently hatched and so were very young and tiny. He told me all about how they will grow to maturity and as they do, they will shed their old 'skin' and it will be replaced with new. He tasked himself with checking several times a day for these old skins and removing them from the tank when necessary, to keep it clean. He takes his job seriously.

I am struck with both his care and his determination. The process of them shedding is already built in to them, but unless Andrei removes these old skins, they will dirty up the living space. And so he helps do for them what they can not do.

I can't help think of the process God goes through with us, when we come to Him in repentance and desiring newness of life. He too helps do for us that which we can not do for ourselves. He helps us not only shed the 'skins' of old ways contrary to His will, but also helps clean up those dead and decaying sins that have to go somewhere.

Sticks shed by instinct, I doubt they think about it and question whether its a good thing or not. We humans think too much at times. Too often we don't just let God shed these old ways in our lives. We'd rather reason with our flesh that its good to keep just some of the old lying around.

Its a good thing those Sticks don't try to interfere with Andrei's cleaning their habitate the way WE interfere with God's cleaning of ours!

Blessings,

Gail