“Do Not Feed the Llamas”

Ever go to a petting zoo? Most of us, as children, can probably say yes to that question. We go with our families or our teachers. The goal is to entertain, educate and enrich our lives as the little hooligan we are; we so desperately need it. I remember when I was in kindergarten, I went to one of these petting zoos, “Deer Park.” Like the name says, there were deer to observe, as well as raccoons and goats. Oh yes, and there were llamas as well. Llamas… an interesting creature. Well, by virtue of Deer Park being a petting zoo, next to the various animal pens were feed dispensers. You got it, you could feed those suckers and add squealing joy, excitement and education to your little ones lives. So, I fed the raccoons, the deer and the goats. However, when we got the llamas’ area, there was sign: “Do not feed the llamas. They spit.” Should be self-explanatory, right? Can you guess what I did next? Uh-huh. Can you guess what happened? Uh-huh.

Everything seemed fine. I thought the llamas certainly wouldn’t mind being fed by moi. I was wrong- in the French, English- and any other language on the planet. What looked like an innocent ice cream cone of feed soon turned into a locked and loaded weapon of “eww,” soon to blow up in my face. Childhood memories. And yes, preventable, if I had only read- and HEEDED- the warning: “Do not feed the llamas.” But I thought I knew better or would receive preferential treatment from the spitting beasts, simply because I wanted it to be so. I was wrong and had a face full of chewed up corn feed to prove it. Speaking of spitting, this llama incident brought to mind the following scripture: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:15-16 Like the llama sign, there is a warning we need to read- and HEED. And if we don’t, well, there’s a consequence. When it comes to llamas, we can get a wet wipe and clean ourselves up. But what happens if we choose to ignore Jesus’ warning? Do we want to deal with that? Do we really consider how much we value Jesus? Is He relevant to our daily lives? Are we hot, cold or lukewarm toward Him? The definition of the word, “lukewarm” is as follows: “showing little enthusiasm: showing or having little enthusiasm, interest, support, or conviction.” Is that us? Is that you? Is that me? A little inventory of ourselves is needed, isn’t it? I don’t know about you, but the lukewarm possibility makes me squirm. What will we do with the warning? Will we stop, consider and heed it? Or, will we go on our own merry way, ignore it and feed the llama? I can think of few examples in which spitting is considered a desired result in any circumstance. We have a choice. We can choose to love and pursue Jesus and God’s high calling on our lives. All of us can improve on our love stance. What will we do? Spit or no spit? That is the question. Copyright © 2013 by Sheryle Cruse