This weekend I was watching a show about a group of people that rescued wild animals, rehabilitated them and then released them back into the wild. On this particular show, they rescued a bobcat. Cut little thing but he was fierce and he was only 8 weeks old. The commentator said "Even at 8 weeks old, he knows he's a bobcat. There is no doubt in his mind."
A bobcat knows he can climb trees. He knows that he should hunt at dawn and dusk. He knows that he mainly eats rabbits and hares but he can also eat rodents and even adult deer if he gets hungry enough. He can bring down an animal several times his size. He knows where to make his home and he knows how to protect his territory.
Made me think of us. God created us for so many things. What do we know about who we should be? So, I looked it up. Here are some of the things the Bible says we were created to be and do.
Be fruitful and multiply and govern the earth.
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground. Genesis 1:28
Praise God!
They are the people I made for myself, and they will sing my praises! Isaiah 43:21 (GNT)
Obey and serve God with all your heart.
Obey the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. Remember the great things he has done for you. 1 Samuel 12:24 (GNT)
Share what you know about God.
In the same way your light must shine before people, so that they will see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (GNT)
Love God with everything you have.
Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. Matthew 22-27: (GNT)
To share God's plan of love with everyone
I know. My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Through followers of Jesus like yourselves gathered in churches, this extraordinary plan of God is becoming known and talked about even among the angels! Ephesians 3:9-10 (MSG)
There are more but these are a good start. You see, bobcats are born knowing who they are and what they are supposed to do. We were created to be close to God, to worship and serve him. When we don't, we become restless and start filling our lives with other things trying to fill that yearning in our souls. It doesn't work. Maybe it’s time to get back to basics and learn to be what we were created to be – in a relationship with God.