Two of Africa’s closely related animals are the gazelle and the gerenuk, both part of the antelope family. You have probably seen tranquil pictures of these pretty, graceful animals with their light tan and pure white hair grazing on the open plains. While they retain separate herds, they frequently graze side by side. Both animals get enough moisture from their food that they can go longer than most animals without drinking water in that dry land.
The two are similar in many ways, and the Lord God created them well suited to their surroundings. Both have long legs and are swift runners. Both have large, soft, black eyes with good vision as well as large, pointed ears for keen hearing. And both have long, round horns and long, slender necks, the gerenuk’s being the longer. In fact, its native name means “giraffe necked.”
Their food is primarily lush grasses but includes leaves of many trees and shrubs. One distinction of the gerenuk is its appetite for the leaves of the African thorn bush, which is covered with sharp thorns. It is amazing how it avoids the thorns and manages to get at the high branches, sometimes standing upright on its hind feet. Other animals avoid that thorny bush.
A difference between these two similar animals is the way they respond to the threat of vicious predators. Gazelles, aware of approaching wild dogs, lions or leopards, immediately jump high in the air, bouncing up and down to signal the rest of the herd. Then they all run off at bursts of speed as high as sixty miles per hour or at a sustained speed of thirty miles per hour.
Gerenuks react differently. When their keen senses tell of a nearby threat, they pass the message around, then freeze like statues, at times standing still for several minutes. The threatening enemy, realizing it has been spotted, usually leaves. But if it seems evident that the enemy is going to attack, the gerenuks dash off in strong leaps and bounds at great speed, usually escaping.
These animals are always in the care of the One who created them, as the Bible tells us: “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:99The Lord is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm 145:9)). He does not expect animals to know this, and they cannot thank Him for it. But He has done something even greater for humans in providing Himself as the Saviour of sinners. He invites you and me to personally accept His death on the cross to put away our sins forever. Will you come to Him as a sinner and accept His loving gift of forgiveness and eternal life with Him in heaven? Each one of us should accept His invitation and thank Him for such love.
ML-09/30/2012