Words to Treasure
The LORD announces to his people, “Return to me with all your heart. There is still time.”
Joel 2:12
Tess, Brandon, and Shane stood on the edge of the little pond. It was full of broken furniture, tires, and lots of trash. Tess picked up an old bottle of car antifreeze. You didn’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure out that in a few years it would just be a swampy garbage heap. The warning signs were already here. They couldn’t hear any frogs or insects buzzing. The pond water already smelled stale and stagnant. But a bright-colored hummingbird zipped past and hovered with fast little wings. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change this.
The pond was giving out help signals for anybody who would stop and listen. In ancient days God was doing the same thing with his people. He was sending them signs warning them that they had better change their evil ways or the future would be a tough ride. God sent prophets such as Hosea and Joel to talk to them, and he even sent an army of plant-eating locusts to get their attention. But they didn’t listen.
Did You Know?
Locusts are grasshoppers that can travel in swarms of 40 million or more. They can travel long distances in a single day and can eat their own body weight in food every day. So when you have millions of bugs that equals tons of destroyed crops. They were bad news. But ancient cultures also ate locusts and had lots of different ways to prepare them. Anyone for locusts on a stick?