The Hungry Leaf
Ephesians 2:10
“For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
It’s a warm day on the Amazon River. A small fish swims near the surface looking among the natural floating river debris for some food. As he looks among the occasional leaf or twig in the water he sees no danger. At the same time, one of the floating “leaves” is waiting for the little fish to move just a bit closer. Then, without warning, the floating “leaf” comes to life, grabs the fish and eats it!
What the little fish thought was simply another floating leaf was actually another fish. The Amazonian leaf fish is carefully designed not only to look like a leaf, but to act like one as well. It has a flat body, very much like a leaf. A black line runs the length of its body, giving the appearance of the midrib of a leaf. A fleshy growth in its lower jaw looks like a leaf stem.
Beyond looking like a leaf, the leaf fish also acts like a leaf. It lies still in the water, drifting with the current. To hide its identity further, it draws its fins close to its body, removing any last hint that it is indeed a hungry fish looking for lunch.
The leaf fish combines deceptive coloring, appearance and behavior into one design so that it, too, can make its living. In this the leaf fish shows that the Creator makes nothing without also designing a special purpose for that creature. According to the Bible, the same can be said even more emphatically for each human being He has made. Your Creator has a special purpose for you, too, and it begins with His plan of salvation for you through His Son Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, through the instruction of Your Word help me to better learn how to define who and what I am more completely in the knowledge of Your forgiving love to me in Jesus Christ. Amen.
REF.: Hanson, Jeanne K., and Deane Morrison. 1990. The wonderful weird of flora and fauna. Star Tribune First Sunday, Dec. 2. p. 17.
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