Lesson from a Blue Footed Booby

The Blue Footed Booby is  aptly named since its feet really are painted a vibrant blue!
The Boobies, though winged,  are birds that  are 'grounded' .  They do not fly.
They  mate for life,  but  the wife may at times encourage the attentions of another male.
The husband seems to overlook her indiscretion.
If he catches his wife keeping company with another male, he does not scold her nor does he commit any aggression against the intruding male.
However, he does NOT forget!
He remembers and he keeps a 'calendar'. He counts the days, and if his wife lays an egg that would have been  fertilized on the day he 'caught her in the act', he will take the egg and roll it to the cliff  and cast it down!  Raising Boobies not his own is not something he will consider !

In thinking about the strange behaviour of the husband regarding his wife's indiscretions, I realized that  it teaches us a very  visual  lesson !

God has hidden so many sermons into His creation and SEEING a sermon makes a longer lasting impression than simply HEARING a sermon.   God's creation-screen in vivid colour  versus a pulpit !

There is a scripture  that the male Booby brought to my mind.
2Co 10:5  "Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

We, as believers,  have committed our lives  to Christ vowing to be faithful to Him alone, in all our ways honouring Him.
Our hearts are sincere, our will is strong ... but ...  we must still struggle against  the weakness of the flesh!

How often a thought comes into our mind and we ignore it, brush it off as unimportant or just choose not to deal with it.
What if we learned from the Booby and made note of  the thought on the calendar of our mind.  
Then we could watch, be on guard to see what 'fruit' came of this 'thought'.  
As soon as we saw any evidence of  undesirable fruit being birthed from  our original thought,  we could roll it to the cliff and cast it down !

"When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin....." James 1:15

Like the Booby, we should refuse to 'raise'  fruit in our life that is unworthy of who we are in Christ.

Let's look at an example.

A young woman is shopping for a new outfit.  She has limited funds and is looking for the best bargain.
One outfit stands out from the rest -- it is perfect -- except for the price.  As she stands there admiring it, another shopper wanders by, stops at the same outfit, takes it off the rack and into the fitting room.  A short time later she walks to the cashier and pays for it in cash.
The young woman watches and thinks .. "Wow... must be nice to just buy whatever you want!"
She glances at her watch and realizes she must pick up the kids from school and get home to make supper.
Her husband comes home later that afternoon and remarks that the car needs new tires.   Could she cut back on groceries for the month so they would have enough to pay for the new tires?
She sighs, feeling the frustration of more skimping , but reluctantly agrees to do the best she can.  
That night she lays awake thinking about what it would be like to be married to someone who could provide her with more of what she would love to have!  Income to spend as she wished with money left over !  What a dream !
By morning she is grumpy and tired  -  snapping  at her husband and nagging at her kids to hurry up or they will  be late for school.  

She passes  through town on her way home and glances at a homeless woman pushing her shopping cart along the road side, looking for bottles and cans to sell for recycling.  
Our young woman's conscience is jolted !    She notes the 'time' of her original thought and realizes the fruit it has birthed.   Quickly, she casts it down, asks the Lord for forgiveness and turns her mind to the things that she has to be thankful for !
Her children and husband enjoy her cheerfulness and resourceful meal  around the dinner table that evening !

Obviously,  a simple and  fictitious scenario but it serves as an example of  how easy it is to allow a selfish or discontented thought  to bear fruit and bring us to a place that is no longer nice to live in.  
We are raising 'children'  of the flesh instead of enjoying the fruit of the Spirit !

Let us remember and guard our thoughts that they are thoughts that will make us more Christlike, more godly, casting down anything that is contrary !

Php 4:8  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.