“May The Lord Bless You As He Blessed Acquatic Animals And Birds!”

“May The Lord Bless You As He Blessed Acquatic Animals And Birds!”
The six days of creation can be divided into two parts. The first three days were days of forming and the last three days were days of filling.
On day five as in today’s reflection God said, “let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” It was so and “God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth'” (Gen.1:20-23).
Humanbeings may be special to God, but he values all his creatures all the same. According to the creation story God’s first blessing is pronounced on acquatic animals and birds of the air.
Acquatic animals are blessed indeed, such that they escaped God’s anger when he destroyed the world with flood. While other animals were being selected in pairs to enter Noah’s ark, the acquatic animals enjoyed life in their entirity and in their numbers.
The second time God pronounced a blessing is when he made humanity in his image. He “blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth and subdue it…'” (Gen.1:26-28).
Humankind and both acquatic and air creatures receive the same blessings and the same charge; except that to humankind is added the charge to rule over the others.
The sea creatures have freedom to swim to wherever they please, just as the birds are free to fly to any destination. Unlike humankind who is bugged down with toil, stress and strain!
Of course, as humanbeings we have such freedom, but we have abused it by making wrong choices. And since choices have consequences, we should not blame the consequences on actions but on the decisions we take.
Just as God put everything in place before bringing us into the picture, let us also learn from those other creatures. It may not be wrong to find out what the sea creatures did right not to suffer the anger of God during the flood. We may yet learn from them.
And as we learn, may we be humbled as we ponder on the awesomeness of God and give him all the glory!
Prayer: Lord may your blessing be eternal in my life. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!