Well if you guessed that the strongest insect in the world was a Horned dung beetle, you were right. You say how do we know that? Well simple, he is capable of pushing & pulling 1,141 times his body weight. Even though he is only 10 millimeter long.
In fact, they impress their female beetles of their strength by first gathering dung into a ball then using water & thread they produce into a ball that he can now roll to his home for consumption later after arrival.
So, walla the Horned Dung Bettle gets his name & his source of food. Becky& I while in North Carolina a few years ago were hiking & ran into this most interesting creature. I had witnessed these creatures as a child but after leaving the hills of the Ozarks forgot all about these strong, brave insects.
Oh well sorry for that bettle trail. Oh the wonder of it all. Who knew this small creature survived on the dung of the local cow, or horse.
Thursday 9/7
Eccl. 4:7,8 "I observed yet another example of something meaningless under the sun. This is the case of a man who is alone, without a child or a brother, yet who works hard to gain as much wealth as he can. But then he asks himself, "Who am I working for? Why am I giving up so much pleasure now?" It is all so meaningless and depressing."
In this small section of the Bible Solomon lays out the many advantages of friendship/companionship. Here he begins by helping us recognize the value of friendship. Or the loss of living life alone, and the loss that comes from walling ourselves off from others.
In Eccl. 2:21 we are reminded of this valuable truth, without passing on or building personal relationships with others, we are prone to find ourselves alone and having failed to invest our learning & resources into someone else who we have chosen to love & bring prosperity & benefit to their lives.
Betty had a neighbor who failed to select someone to pass on their home to. Now after their death, various homeless people have moved in and damaged, the home as well as, caused upheaval in the neighborhood. While they could have passed on their home to some person in their lives who could gain from their lifetime of labor, or even a good cause which could have invested it in benefitting others. However, due to rapid illness & death and their poor planning their home fell prey to those with evil intent.
Solomon was faced with this important truth, to take time & interest in placing a high priority in those that you love, children, family, etc. Then as you pass these important possessions on to others they will become an important investment in their lives as well.
Not only was Solomon faced with this important lesson, but Job was also faced with this important fact. Then he had the benefit of starting over & redirecting his life & passing on these most important facts to his newly born children. He, Job and Solomon could have faced their loss without learning this important truth of investing our lives in others, for then the effort, sweat, blood & tears could cause others to have the benefits of eternal importance.
This reality brought about a change in Solomon & Job's life they both placed great effort in teaching their children as well as us, in this eternal book. Imagine if they had failed to pass on their life lessons and lived the rest of their lives in disillusionment, and sadness, rather than facing their failures and then leaving their writings about what really matters.
Job left his experience of facing almost total destruction, and defamation, then he took the time & effort in getting to know God in an intimate way, then he passed it onto his children. Then further he passed this vital truth onto us, those truths that God taught him about when he was almost totally overwhelmed. We learned of God's love & mercy & grace for us His children, through Job & Solomon life experiences.
I believe that the reason Solomon took such a great interest in passing on the wisdom of the Proverbs was due to his realization of the importance of passing these lessons onto his sons, Israel, and you & I.
So Go With God my dear one, don't waste your lifetime of experience without passing on the lessons that have been invested in your lives. He desires for your experiences to be shared, and invested in their lives. Becky has written a number of stories which use animals, to pass on these important lessons to our grandchildren & any others who may read the stories. I hope & pray that these will only be the beginning of lessons to pass onto children far & wide.
Solomon in his later years attempts to leave these lessons for us to gain wisdom from, though he was troubled with his lifetime of investment in his children, wives, and kingdom. When we read and strive to dig deep in his experiences & attempt to pass them on to others we only prove the value of these words.
Invest your life experiences in passing on to others in whatever ways you can; you will be rewarded & have much to rejoice in for eternity in our eternal home. My parents began that in their lives and then instilled in us these same values, and then encouraged to pass these truth onto others. Here we are teaching a Good News Club this year seeking to do the very same thing that Job & Solomon did. What a royal inheritance we share in.
Go on in His might my dear one, share His grace & mercy with others our dear ones.
Dung beetle? Who knew. Creepy critter.