Eating Bugs and Loving God

1st THOUGHT:

In Ten Thousand years of human existence- Do you know that the convenience of pre-packaged, store bought food has only been available for last 150 years or so?

What did folks do for food before the invention of refrigeration.

What if, you had to live off the land, no help, just you and nature?

What if there were no grocery stores- Fast food...?

Well our ancestors did it- Civilization has done it for generations-

Native Americans did it before Europeans showed up...

And even the early pioneers of this country did it.

When I was in the Army- I had the opportunity to train with a Special Forces group at Ft Lewis, Washington.

The 2/15 Inf Ranger Battalion. Which later morphed into the initial Stryker Brigade responding to 9-11 in 2001.

Spent a week of training with new recruits into the unit.

Learned all kinds of survival techniques- Got to shoot some of the nicest weapons the Army had at the time.

including the Swedish “K” Special Ops sub machine gun.

An Israeli Uzi and a German 9mm “Grease gun”

One thing I did not do… Eat bugs.

The recruits we trained with, they lived for 6 weeks of orientation training in pup tents in the field. They lived off the land. They ate bugs, tree bark and learned how to capture fresh drinking water from broad leaf plants.

Did I mention, they ate bugs?

They were brought in from the field under cover of darkness and marched into the classroom for a week of classroom training in land Nav, Map/Compass orientation.

Near total sensory depravation.

I almost felt sorry for them. (Almost)

The MP platoon that I was assigned to had a young 1st Lieutenant, who wanted the entire platoon to become “Ranger” qualified. So for a week, we did orientation with the 2nd Ranger Battalion. With one exception-

Now, unlike the real Ranger recruits, who slept in the woods, at the end of the duty day, they went back to the woods- ate MRE’s, sometimes cold, sometimes heated with warm water.

We went back to our Barracks and the married guys like me, we went home to our families and enjoyed a nice hot meal served on real plates on a table with a real tablecloth spread on it.

However, these young Rangers, learned how to Identify a variety of poisonous plants- The one you dont want to eat- The “Magic Mushrooms”

Also bugs, worms, and how to set snares for small game traps. Protein is the name of the game in survival.

I went home and had meatloaf.

What I learned from these young men, wannabe warriors- Is that out in the woods, when you got nothing else going for you but the guy you share the Pup tent with… Whether you like them or not, you learn to rely on them and trust them when it comes to surviving the worst of times.

One of the most amazing things ever is what God did for us humans with the plants and landscape of Earth. God’s Creation is amazing.

Plants create seeds to grow more of the same kinds of plants- For much of wildlife to survive by eating. Some of those seeded are even safe for humans to eat.

Lets consider the deer and its stomachs. More than one. Much like cows.

So lets think about the process of the seed for a moment-

Everything from the smallest grass seed to the acorn that produces the tallest Oak tree, has encoded into the fibers of that seed, the code to produce hundreds or even thousands of seeds to reproduce even more grass seeds and trees.

For this to happen something has to change with the seed. What is that change?

The seed must be buried in the ground- Then it has to die.

Imagine, for a seed to produce life- It has to die.

The great thing is that to reach its greatest potential, that seed has to become something else entirely.

After the seed dies in the ground, it begins to sprout into something completely different- It’s not a seed anymore- It has sprouted into a sapling or the root system of a plant- Soon, that seed has become totally unrecognizable- It has gone from a seed- a dead seed- to a living plant or bush or tree.

And thats exactly how our relationship with God should be.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we are changed- The Bible says we are new creations- We have new minds- We should not be thinking, talking, or acting the way we did before.

Jesus changes us from the inside out and every day, as we let Him, We become more and more like Him- Getting better every day.

And just like the Elite Military Special Ops Units, who rely on their team members in life or death situations, Here at KOZ, we rely on each other to speak truth into each others lives.

Galatians 6:6–9 ESV

Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

It is vital to pay attention. Why?

Is it important to be aware of your surroundings? Why?

If you had information that would save a good friends life- Would you share that info with them? Why?

What about a total stranger?

Rom 10.9

Romans 10:9 ESV

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

There are a host of things we can do in nature to keep the wild outdoors wild.

Clear trails, set up food plots, plant trees to shelter the wildlife from the wind and rain of bad storms.

There are also many ways to keep our hearts in tune with God- How? (Read Bible daily, Go to Church, hanging out with friends that will build you up and not tear you down)

God has made each and every one us a unique creation- An amazing thing in itself.

We are “Fearfully and Wonderfully made...” You are special, unique and highly valued in God’s eyes. (And ours as well)

Just remember, in the middle of your worst day ever- And trust me, you havent had your worst day ever, yet...

DO NOT ever grow weary of doing good. For in due time, we will reap a harvest- If we do NOT give up.