Through Your Lens

What are those cute, furry, pointy-nosed animals that scurry across the deserts of southern Africa? Meerkats. But how can they survive in such a forbidding region? One secret is community cooperation.

Reaching up to 50 members in a clan, or mob, each furry team-member does its share to serve the whole. While the rest of the mob forages for food, one or more sentinels diligently stands guard to warn of predators. Back in the burrow, babysitters are tasked with watching the new pups.

But most interesting is their shared task of training the next generation of young pups. Males and females, young and old, train the newest family members. The young recruits join the clan on the hunt, watching and learning how to search for and kill their prey. A mentor will teach the pup first where to find bugs and larvae and then progress to killing scorpions (with their stingers carefully removed).

Each member must do its job to keep the clan healthy and thriving. What a lesson for us! God likewise gave gifts to the members of Christ’s body to benefit the whole body (1 Corinthians 12).