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Nature Notes
Do you like elephants? Have
you ever seen one in real life? At the zoo or at a safari park? Tell me what
you know about elephants… They have big, long trunks; they have big ears;
they can make trumpet sounds; they sleep standing up; they eat lots of grass
and tree leaves; all the girls and babies travel together in herds.
Did you know that elephants
have an incredible memory? They do! They remember all the good places to find
food. They remember all their good animal friends. They remember people, too;
nice people and mean people. If you are mean to an elephant, the elephant
will remember you as an unkind person and try to stomp on you or hit you with
his trunk. If you are nice, though, and do not tease or hurt the elephant,
he’ll remember you as a nice person and he’ll be very gentle with you; he’ll eat
out of your hand, sniff you and even pet you with his trunk! He might even
allow you to take a ride on his back! Wouldn’t that be fun?
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Spiritual Connection
Elephants, with their
incredible memory, remind me of God. You see, God never forgets anything; not
one thing! And yet, in the Bible, God has promised that if we confess our
sins and say we are sorry for doing wrong, He will forgive us and then erase
the record of our sin out of our life book. In fact, the Bible says “God will
have compassion upon us… and will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19).
If we confess our sins; if
we say “I’m sorry, Jesus, for my bad behavior”… or “bad thoughts”… or “bad
words”… God promises to forgive our wrongs and to forget them.
And then, God also promises
to take away our badness and give us happiness.
I wonder, are you able to
say, “Dear Jesus, I’m sorry. Please forgive me for my wrongs.” Can we do that
right now?
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Photos & Prints
More elephant facts,
photos, videos and sounds:
National Geographic Creature Features
Animal Planet
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Closure
What a wonderful God we
have! Even though He has a better memory than an elephant, He chooses to
forget our naughtiness if we just ask Him for forgiveness. He will even
cleanse us from our naughtiness and give us happy hearts and happy thoughts.
I so love God, don’t you?
© Christine Gillan Byrne, 2012. Young Child Ministries,
P.O. Box 27, Ojai, CA 93024 (805) 490-6055. www.youngchildministries.com.
Used with permission.
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