I'm often reminded in my workplace about what it means to be a new creature in Christ. How you may ask? From a Turtle.
Rocky is the turtle's name here at the Orthodontist's office where I work (Rox is what I call her. She is a girl, so I felt obligated to feminize her name!). She doesn't do much but sit on her rock, eat her food or chase around the finger of a patient who has become enthralled with her. But one thing she seems to do much of is shead.
Rox grows continually. At our last estimate, she is at least 35 years old, more likely closer to 40. And what I find fascinating is that it seems as though every time I look over at her from my desk, she is losing another piece of her shell. Her growth spirt has been more rapid in the past week and she has lost at least 2 pieces of her shell. And, from what I see, is working on AT LEAST 2 more! When she loses shell, she's getting bigger, she's growing, sheading the old shell for the new.
When we come to know Jesus and put our trust in Him, we become new in Him. Old things are passed away and new things come (2 Cor 5:17). Just like Rox's shell, the old has to leave to make way for the new. As the old passes, and the new comes, she grows. She becomes, bigger, better, older, and wiser.
This is how we should grow in Christ. Before we knew Him, we were like a turtle with an old shell. Then when we put our trust in Him, the new shell exploded from beneath. And as we grow in Him, the pieces of our old life continue to fall off. Either they float off on their own, or we are put through pain until it is forced to leave us.
This is what Rox does. She waits patiently for it to leave her at it's appointed time, or she will allow herself the pain of scratching off the old against a sharp-edged rock. In the between times, she rests on her rock, feeds on her food, finds joy in the chase or works to move heavy rocks. But in all that she does as a turtle, I think she grows because of the freedom she has been given to do so. As her large home gives her the freedom to grow, so our life in Christ does so for us.
We are free to enjoy the joy found in Him, free to work knowing there is a purpose for it, free to feed on the knowledge of His Word, and free to rest in all that He is.
You may think I'm stretching this. Why would I take the time to get spiritual insights from the life of a turtle? Simple: Rox has the fingerprints of her Creator all over her. I don't know if turtles know much, but I believe that Rox knows Who created her. So, with that in mind you can see how I would find something spiritual. The created who knows her Creator, placed in a tank across an Orthodontist office, was put there with His purpose: To bring man to God.
It is true that man has no excuse. God is not far from us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is in all that He's made. And once you're on this journey of knowing Him, you find Him in the most surprising places. He says that if we seek, we shall find (Matt 7:7).
I found Him among the rocks and algae of a turtle tank...
