RED!

  ‘Red Kangaroo with joey’ photo by John Torcasio on PxHere.                                                     

The ‘Red Kangaroo’ is the emblem of Australia!  It is the largest kangaroo in the world.  The males nicknamed ‘boomers’, can be up to 5 feet 10 inches tall and weigh as much as 198 pounds!!!  They have huge hind legs and can leap up to 26 feet at a time and run for short bursts of speed at 40 miles per hour.  Their tail is used for balance.  They are known for their ‘boxing matches’ (to determine male dominance) where they use their powerful back legs, which include a claw and their hands, normally used to hold food, to inflict injury to their opponent.                                                             

(You can watch the video of them in action by clicking on the ‘Kangaroo Boxing’ link below.)   

The females nicknamed ‘blue fliers’ are much smaller (See pic above), only up to 58 pounds  and are marsupials.  They raise their young in an external pouch.  Their babies are called ‘joeys’.  When they are born, they are about the size of a peanut weighing less than a gram, hairless and blind. 

The joey leaves the birth canal and claws its way upward into the pouch.  The journey takes about 15 unassisted minutes!  Once inside the pouch, the joey attaches itself to one of four teats.  

As the first joey develops, a second newborn joey enters the pouch and attaches itself to one of the other four teats.  As the second joey develops, she will have a third joey, each at a different stage of development!  The mother kangaroo can produce different types of milk in her teats!  The teat used by a newborn joey contains less fat.  

What a metaphor!  Did you know that the Bible tells us that God adjusts our ‘spiritual milk’ according to our needs!!!    

‘Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.’  1 Peter 2:2-3.

BUT, as the apostle Paul admonishes us, we are not meant to drink ‘spiritual milk’ forever.  Rather, we are meant to move on to solid food. 

‘Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.  I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it.  Indeed, you are still not ready.  You are still worldly.  For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly?  Are you not acting like mere humans?’  For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?’  1 Corinthians 3:1-4.

‘In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.’  Hebrews 5:12-14.

Thank goodness that we have this promise from Philippians 6:1, ‘being confident of this, that he (Jesus) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’  He will help us mature!  He gave us:  ‘the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.  From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.’ Ephesians 4:14-16.

‘Therefore, let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.’  Hebrews 6:1-2.

AND REMEMBER, ‘His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.  For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.’  
2 Peter 1:3-8. 

Study the word of God, the Bible and learn what these ‘precious promises’ are!
Find a church where the word of God is preached, and you have the opportunity to hear from the apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers Christ gave us so you can be ‘equipped’ and mature moving from ‘spiritual milk’ to ‘solid food’!

GO FOR IT!

‘Kangaroo Boxing’ with David Attenborough, BBC Earth.