Original Entry:
June 17, 2008
Hume Lake, CA
The lions
may grow weak and hungry, but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Psalm 34:10
I have
never seen a Grizzly Bear except in pictures, movies, and the Zoo. One of my favorite movies is an old film from
the 90’s called “The Edge” where several men are stranded in the Alaskan
Wilderness and hunted by a man-eating Grizzly.
I look forward to the day that I might see a Grizzly Bear; from a long
distance. In fact, over the years I have
been asked what animal I would be if I had the ability to choose and without
hesitation, I answer, “a Grizzly Bear!”
There is
something about the Grizzly that commands our respect. Its great size, speed, and strength are
intimidation to say the least. C.S. Lewis
in The Chronicles of Narnia series, selected the powerful lion to represent the
Christ figure Aslan. I understand his selection but I bet the Grizzly was near
the top of his list.
As much as I respect the power of the
bear and the lion, however, they have no power or dominion over me. The opposite is true as we remember back to Genesis when God gave man the power
and dominion over the animals, “Let us
make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the
sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over
all the creatures that move along the ground"(26).
Unlike
man, the bear and lion are soulless creatures not created in the image of
God. Their survival depends upon how
they handle today; will they find food, water, shelter and avoid
predators? Their abundance depends
completely on how well they can survive the present. They have no sense of
destiny or future beyond their primary need to survive.
Animals
operate within the time frame of today and forever. Let me explain. An animal lives
according to its survival instinct of present time-today. The do not understand
time in the context of minutes, an hour, or even tomorrow, only forever. If a
mother leaves her young all they know is she has left forever and not simply to
round up some food.
Psalm 34:10 affirms this with the great promise
that, “those who seek the Lord lack no
good thing.” In other words, as a
man is made in the image of God he possess a soul which empowers him to live
beyond today and understand time more than in terms of today or forever. Unlike
the beasts of the field, today and forever are not synonymous for humans. We
can dream, plan, and have a sense of destiny because of a living soul made in
the image of the creator.
We will “lack no good thing” because in the
midst of hunger, weakness, pain, and suffering we can turn to the One who is
good-God alone.
