If we are the body

I'm going to start today's blog off with some pretty cool facts... here they go!
-There are 10,000 different kinds of ants!
-Ants can lift 20 times their weight-- that's like a 10 pound baby lifting her 200 pound dad!
-Ants come in all kinds of colors-- red, yellow, green, blue, purple, brown, and black!
-Ants have two eyes that are made of up of a bunch of smaller eyes called compound eyes.
-Ants have two stomachs-- the first holds food for itself and the second is for food to be shared with other ants!!
-Ants live an average of 45-60 days.
-Ants live in colonies where each ant has a job to do (there is even an ant that takes out the garbage!! No joke!!).

First of all please just take a moment to think about that then tell God what an awesome job He did when He created ants!! Whoo go God!!

Ok wow! So ants are pretty cool huh? Well what gets me is that they don't take days off. They don't have paid vacations and pools behind their... umm... I don't know cells? Anyway that's beside the point! Ants live for 45-60 DAYS!! That is not a very long time! And you know what they spend their days doing? Digging holes!! I mean they do more than that but you have to admit their lives are pretty boring. But they do it anyway! They don't care that it's boring or maybe they like Bob's job better than theirs! They do their job for the good of the colony no matter what!

Wow! That is devotion! That is pure selfless devotion! They spend their entire lives building up their colony's kingdom. They give their lives for the advancement of their colony.

I don't know about you but I think the body of Christ has a lesson or two to learn from ants! Don't take my word for it; here is a passage from the Bible for you to chew on. "Go to the ant, O sluggard (lazy), Observe her ways and be wise..." Proverbs 6:6

Like an ant colony the body of Christ is made up of different members who each have their own job.

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. --1 Corinthians 12
(This is a small part of what God said about the body so I encourage you to read all of 1 Corinthians to get some more out of it.)

We Christians are part of that body. Now you're going "I didn't sign up to be part of a body!" Well... yeah ya did. When you gave your life to Christ you were made part of the body of Christ right then. God said 'whoo hoo --insert your name here-- came to know me we are going to spend eternity together and now she/he can get started on the job I planned out for her/him before I created to universe!' You and I have jobs God made just for us! Very cool huh?!

But I have a feeling that the ants put us to shame when it comes down to getting our jobs done. Which is really sad because you remember what I said earlier about ants spending their whole lives building up the colony's kingdom? Well, if we do our jobs we are building up God's eternal kingdom!! Wow! God is letting us help Him build His kingdom! That should make us want to get up and go get a hammer and nails right now! But we don't...

Right now you are coming up with every way possible to defend yourself from being bettered by and ant. You're thinking, "Oh but didn't you say that ants could lift 20 times their weight? We can't compete with that!" -- Oh yes we can!

"For truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Matthew 17:20

A mountain... hopefully that is at least 20 times your body weight! If its not... well I won't go there...

So the point is we have no excuse for not living every moment of our lives for the Lord! Shame on us for letting ANTS work harder for a kingdom that is easily destroyed than we work for a kingdom that is eternal!

Now I don't want to sound like I've got it together. I'm sure that I'm the worst of all of us and I have a lot to work on!

I thought I would end this blog with the lyrics to a great song by Casting Crowns called If We are the Body.

It's crowded in worship today
As she slips in
Trying to fade into the faces
The girls' teasing laughter is carrying farther than they know
Farther than they know

But if we are the Body
Why aren't His arms reaching
Why aren't His hands healing
Why aren't His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why aren't His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way
There is a way

A traveler is far away from home
He sheds his coat
And quietly sinks into the back row
The weight of their judgemental glances tells him that his chances
Are better out on the road

But if we are the Body
Why arent His arms reaching
Why arent His hands healing
Why arent His words teaching
And if we are the Body
Why arent His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus paid much too high a price
For us to pick and choose who should come
And we are the Body of Christ

If we are the body
Why arent His arms reaching
Why arent His hands healing
Why arent His words teaching
And if we are the body
Why arent His feet going
Why is His love not showing them there is a way

Jesus is the way