Turtles and Hedgehogs and Armadillos, oh my!

"a new creation"
2 Corinthians 5:17

Amazing Boy and I were reading one of the "Just So Stories" recently, in school.  This is a series of stories written in 1902, by British author Rudyard Kipling, that humorously imagine how certain animals came to be.  Two of the most famous are, "How the Camel Got His Hump" and "How the Leopard Got His Spots".   We were reading, "The Beginning of the Armadillos," and in this story, a turtle and a hedgehog are in danger of being eaten by a (not very bright) jaguar.  The turtle had the defense of swimming away, and the hedgehog had the defense of curling up in a prickly ball.   But then they overhear the jaguar's mother teaching him out to outsmart their defenses, so they decide to team up, and teach each other their defense.  Then they'll each have two.  But as they each learn the additional trait, it transforms them.  They become creatures who can both swim, and curl up on a ball.  They become armadillos.  The (not very bright) jaguar is completely perplexed by these creatures, and leaves them alone entirely.

Now, of course, the idea of one species evolving into another is ridiculous, but it did get me thinking about the idea of evolving.  I've always loved the idea that species can adapt to their surroundings, and that if longer beaks are going to enable birds to feed easier than the birds with the short beaks, then over time, birds that have shorter beaks are going to lose the eating competitions, and eventually, birds of that species are all going to have longer beaks.   (But I sure don't understand how that skinny Japanese guy won so many hot dog-eating contests at Coney Island...)

Believers evolve, too.  If your goal is to become more like Him, then you're going to have to evolve, in order for that to happen.  Romans 5 says "we know that suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance produces character."  That's evolution.   And you know what?  That's exciting!   I don't know anyone who rather be who they were ten, or twenty years ago.   Although, sometimes they would like to have back the complexion of their younger self...  We look back at who we were, and we see immaturity, impatience and downright foolishness.

Sometimes Christians compare this concept to a butterfly, and it's certainly a beautiful image: something weird and wormy goes in the cocoon, and something beautiful comes out.  But it only happens once to a butterfly.  If we are walking in faith, walking with Him, then we are continually growing more beautiful in His eyes.   As John the Baptist said of Jesus, "He must increase, but I must decrease."  We are each a work in progress.   So the next time someone says to you, "What's new?" you can answer, "I am!"

~ "Beloved, now we are children of God,

and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be,

but we know that when He is revealed, 

we shall be like Him

for we shall see Him as He is." ~

1 John 3:2