In the cold oxygen-rich waters of the northern Pacific Ocean, there lives a Giant. It’s the giant Pacific octopus, over 4 meters long it’s a formidable hunter, weighing up to 182 kilograms (400 pounds). A female octopus is hunting, but not for her usual prey. She has just mated for the first time and now she is hunting for a den, a secure place under a rock, a place where she can settle down and hide in the safety. Her den has to be just right, for she is going to live here for the rest of her life. She makes her choice carefully. Once she finds the perfect spot, she moves into it, reaches an arm out, and pulls in surrounding rocks to seal the opening. She locks herself in. This will be the place where life will be given and where life will be taken. She’s carrying fertilized eggs, and now, happy and settled, she lays them, one by one, to the den’s roof.
Over the next three weeks, she will lay between 20,000 and 100,000 of them. She carefully tends her precious eggs for the next six to seven months. She guards them with her life. She fans the eggs and grooms and constantly caresses them with her powerful tentacles to keep them from harmful bacteria. She blowsstreams of oxygen- and nutrient-rich water over them to ensure they are properly supplied with oxygen. This is her first and only offspring and so she takes great care of them.
While she’s guarding her eggs, she doesn’t leave the den to hunt. Not once. She cannot take the risk of leaving them, as the eggs will then fall prey to crabs, fish, and other animals on the lookout for an easy meal. Unable to feed, she is starving. Growing extremely weak her last act of love and devotion is to blow water over the eggs to help her youngsters hatch and break free. New life is given at the expense of her own. She timed the hatching of her young to perfection as it happened during the night. Young, fully-developed octopus pop out and under the cover of darkness, when most fish are asleep, they swim to the surface. She has given them the best chance to survive she possibly could. After her long and lonely time of keeping watch to guard her young, she dies, starved to death. She sacrificed herself so that her young can live. Surely this sacrifice must make her one of nature’s most devoted mothers.
This mother did more than what was expected of her. She did extra; she gave herself to her young and in doing so gave birth to a new generation that will one day do the same. In Jesus own teaching He constantly teaches that when you belong to Him you must do extra, more than what is expected of you. If a soldier demands you to carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also, if someone wants to have your shirt give him your coat too, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, and be kind to those who hate you (Matthew 5:39-47). In other words: Do extra! Feed those who are hungry, clothe those who are naked, house those who are strangers, visit those who are lonely and reach out to those who are lost (Matthew 25: 34-40).
Jesus, our example, demonstrated it. He lived it, He taught it and He expects it. You can only do the extra when others are your focus when life is not firstly about you, your comfort, and meeting your own interests. Paul writes in Philippians 2: 4 (NLT): Don’t look out only for your own interest, but take an interest in others, too. When Paul was searching among all the believers for someone qualified to send he did not look for someone with high education, great faith, many talents, or spiritual gifts. Out of all the believers, Paul knew only one who qualified, one he could trust to send – Timothy. What did Timothy have that all the other believers were lacking? Paul answers: I have no one else like Timothy, who genuinely cares about your welfare. All the others care only for themselves and not for what matters to Christ (Philippians 2: 4, 21-22, NLT). Timothy truly cared about the needs and interests of others. Is this true of you? Are you a Timothy? Would you be chosen among all the others? Then you need to live that one quality the giant Pacific Octopus illustrates so powerfully: Life is not about you and your interests. Do you want to demonstrate the love of God to those around you? Then you need to live not for yourself. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers (1 John 3:16, NIV). For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45, NIV). He did extra. Let us follow His example.
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