ARMADILLO!

‘Armadillo’ by Rich Anderson is licensed under CC BY-NC SA 2.0.

‘TEXAS SPEED BUMPS’!
A funny nick name for an armadillo, the official state animal of Texas!  It’s probably because they are serious roadkill all over that state!   Unfortunately, when they are startled, they jump 3-4 feet straight up!!  So, if they happen to be under a moving vehicle, this instinct to jump up is to their own demise.  (Thump, thump). 
Armadillos, which means ‘little armored ones’ have been in existence for fifty million years!                                                       (See photo above).

According to armadillo-online.org, the earliest were the size of a Volkswagen!!!  Twenty species exist today, from the biggest, the giant armadillo weighing up to 130 pounds and 5 foot, 9 inches long including the tail, to the smallest and cutest, the pink fairy armadillo only 4-6 inches long and weighing only 3.5 ounces!

They are all covered in body armor plates, bone covered in keratin.  Only two species can curl into a tight ball for protection from predators.  They are nocturnal, sleeping 16 hours a day and foraging for food at night.  They have a sticky tongue, an excellent sense of smell and a large front claw (up to 8 inches on the giant armadillo!).  They are good swimmers and can hold their breath for 4-6 minutes!  They know how to dog paddle.  I can relate!

Unfortunately, they have poor eyesight, but compensate for this with hairs on their sides that act like curb feelers on a car that help them feel their way around.  Fascinating creatures!  

I remember hearing a sermon about them.  Their failure to adapt to the world as it is today, a world filled with moving vehicles, is deadly, they often become roadkill.  Jumping straight up when startled is not a good idea.  Have you failed to adapt to what’s in the world today?

JESUS IS HERE!  Are you adapting to this reality or stuck in your old ways!!!

Jesus spoke a parable to the Israelites that highlights the need for change since He was among them.  He said, ‘No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.  Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.’  Matthew 9:16-17.

The ‘new wine’ is Jesus!  He doesn’t fit into the ‘old wineskin’ or the ways of the religious establishment in those days.  There were 613 commandments in the Old Testament the Jewish people tried to follow!  The New Testament calls these laws ‘our schoolmaster’.  In other words, they were given to teach us what sin is and to help us recognize that there is NO WAY anyone could keep the whole law!  They showed us that we needed a savoir for our sins. 
‘Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.’  Galatians 3:24. KJV.

The Jewish people were also required by the law to offer the sacrifice of animals to cover their sins.  ‘In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.’  Hebrews 9:22.  The fact is, God was not pleased by these sacrifices and had a better plan.  ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.’  Hebrews 10:8.
Jesus came to fulfill the law!  ‘Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.’  Matthew 5:17.  He is the new wineskin, a completely new and different way to live.  As it says in Romans 7:4, ‘Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.’  

So, what about you?  Are you living your life apart from Jesus Christ?  Are you settled in the old wineskin of the American dream of having a house, a car, kids and a great job, but without Christ?
Or in the new wineskin; ‘the new and living way Jesus opened for us.’  Hebrews 10:20.  Or said another way, living the abundant life Jesus promised in John 10:10.  ‘I have come that (you may) have life, and have it to the full.’  Fulfilling God’s command to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  
Mark 12:30.  Life with God is beautiful!

But, like the armadillo, not adapting to life as it is today can be deadly for you too.  The scriptures make it clear that without Christ you are, ‘dead in your transgressions and sins’. 
‘But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, can make you alive with Christ even when you are dead in transgressions and by His grace you can be saved’. Ephesians 2:1-5 paraphrased.

RECEIVE THE NEW WINE AND WINESKIN AND LIVE THE LIFE GOD INTENDED FOR YOU!!!