by Doug Bing, Washington Conference president
Do you know the creatures that have the shortest lifespan?
There are a number of those created beings that have very short lifespans. Anywhere from 2-3 years to a short time of 6 months. (You'll find lots of interesting articles if you want to look up creatures with short lifespans.)
There is a sea creature in Australia, for example, that only lives for two weeks. It is a type of gobi. It lives such a short time that predators really don’t have time to find many of them and eat them.
And then there is the Mayfly.
Now most species of flies have a very short lifespan anyway. Frankly I dislike most species of flies, so I am ok with their short lifespan.
The Mayfly has a lifespan that is shorter than any other type of fly. The life span is only 24 hours.
So what does a mayfly do in those 24 hours? Their one goal is to reproduce. They have no other focus. They want to reproduce.
The Mayfly doesn’t even take time to eat during its life. What is interesting is that they don’t even have developed mouths in order to eat. It is just focused on reproduction. Apparently, it has worked as well because scientist recognize the Mayfly as the oldest surviving species of flying insects.
So what can we learn from the Mayfly?
I frankly love their focus on reproducing so that their species will survive. They are focused on the life of their species and how to perpetuate life.
Why is that important?
As Christians our main focus is to share Jesus. The gospel commission is clear.
Matthew 28 states:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Because our species is important to God and He wants to use us to share the good news of Jesus. That is the main focus as we walk with God.
Too many times we allow the cares of this world to get in our way and change our focus. We don’t always look at the people in our area of influence as people that we should share Jesus with.
We may be frustrated with their driving slow in the fast lane. We may be frustrated that the neighbor’s dog wakes you up barking in the middle of the night. Granted those are frustrating things. Yet those individuals are the ones that God has places in our lives as potential individuals for his kingdom.
We need to stay focused on the growth of the kingdom of God instead of the cares of the world that slow us down.
This is what total member involvement is all about. It is God asking us to stay focused on the gospel commission of bringing people to Christ and seeing them commit to being a part of the family of God.
Will you be as focused as the Mayfly on bringing people to be in the family of God? Let’s work together to stay focused on sharing Jesus.