Elfi Kummer was completely confused. She had to close her Sea Star Aquarium due to an electrical problem. For two days in a row the electrical system needed for the aquarium had stopped working. The electricians didn’t know the cause, and her many sea creatures were in danger of dying when the electric pumps were cut off. The pumps sent oxygen into all the tanks which housed the sea creatures, so something had to be done right away!
Normally, the Sea Star Aquarium in Coburg, Germany, would be bustling with visitors viewing its 3,200 different creatures, representing over 600 species. One favorite creature was the very clever, six-month-old octopus named Otto. The workers had trained him to squirt passing visitors, and that kept him busy having fun during the busy summer months. But now, without the visitors to squirt, it seemed the two-foot seven-inch octopus was bored and began to cause trouble.
Otto wasn’t much trouble at first. Using his eight legs, he would juggle the hermit crabs that shared his tank and get a good reaction from the workers. That gave him the attention he seemed to need, but then the workers drifted off to do other jobs. He had the playfulness to grab the workers’ scrubbers when they tried to clean his tank. And imagine the stress for the creatures that shared his tank when this mischievous octopus rearranged the whole tank to his liking.
Otto sounds like some boys and girls I know. They think their “world” should be arranged to make them happy. Come to think of it, that same thinking could apply to a lot of men and women too. In fact, that’s the belief of the time we live in: “Do whatever makes me happy.” God says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves” ({vi 29855-29856}2 Timothy 3:1-2). Looking out for our own pleasure is a sure way to get into trouble and to dishonor the Lord Jesus. In the tenth verse of the same chapter, the Apostle Paul says, “Thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, [love], patience.” Having this kind of purpose in life and a love for the Lord Jesus will help us to show love to one another and not selfishness.
Otto doesn’t have a conscience like you and I have. Maybe that’s why he seemed to think it would be fun to start throwing rocks at the glass walls of his aquarium. That brought the workers over to try to entertain him. They invented toys like bottled crabs for him to play with. But how long can you keep a clever octopus out of trouble?
After two nights with power outages, some of the workers decided to sleep in shifts on the aquarium floor. One worker would be awake at all times to see if he could spot the start of the electrical trouble. After watching for a few hours, he would wake up the next watcher to take his turn.
Toward morning, one of the watchers noticed Otto working his way up the side of his tank onto the lip of the aquarium and then taking aim at the 2000-watt light bulb overhead. WHOOOSH! Otto squirted a long stream of water onto the light bulb, and ZAP! It short-circuited the lighting system, shutting off the power to the whole aquarium building!
So that was the cause of the problem! A bored, trouble-making octopus was using his trained squirting capabilities to amuse himself. Rather interesting behavior for an octopus, but it makes me think about the more serious trouble caused by a selfish person.
For Christians in a selfish world, there is a perfect example of how we should behave. The Lord Jesus didn’t come to entertain Himself and just have fun. According to Romans 15:3, “Even Christ pleased not Himself.” He said, “I came down from heaven, not to do Mine own will, but the will of Him that sent Me” (John 6:38). That’s actually the only way to have true joy, doing the will of God. We’ll never find lasting joy in trying to satisfy ourselves by having fun. In fact, we’re likely to cause trouble for others, like Otto did. When we are in God’s presence, we discover the truth of what Jesus said, “I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” (John 16:22). Now that’s true happiness!
“Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not” (Proverbs 8:33).
MEMORY VERSE: “Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” Proverbs 8:33
ML-04/12/2009