A Lesson From My Fortune Cookie

Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers Galatians 6:10

(God’s Word Translation [1995])Hebrews 13:1 Continue to love each other.

A Fortune Cookie Truth: Be Careful! Bees with honey in their mouths have stings in their tails

Recently I dined at a local restaurant where they serve these types of cookies….when I read my “fortune” I just had to throw my head back and laugh! How true it is.

The bee…especially those cute little bumble-bees…oh, aren’t they just so cute?!!...all furry and colorful, flittering and fluttering about…? They almost look really cozy as they’re doing their day’s work. They look so harmless. After reading this fortune cookie I had to do some research concerning the bumblebee. What better place to look than Wikipedia?? So I went there. This is what I found.

The bumblebee is any member of the bee genus Bombus, in the family Apidae. I found it astonishing that there are over 250 known species…I had no idea! These are social insects that are characterised by black and yellow body hairs (although there are some that are characterised by other colors), often in bands. They are soft and feel fuzzy. Their relatives are the honey bees. Queen and worker bumblebees can sting..and can do so more than once.

So, they may be all flitter and flutter…doing their job from flower to flower, lapping up “honey-making product”, but touch them at the wrong time or anytime….and you’d better be ready for a stinger!! Bumblebees will also tend to visit the same patches of flowers every day…as long as they continue to find nectar and pollen.(Think about that)

I found it interesting that there is a name for certain bumblebees. There are certain types that are called Female Cuckoo Bumblebees. (Ever been around some people like this?) These types will aggressively attack host colony members, and sting the host queen, but will ignore other animals and humans unless disturbed.

Experiments have shown that bumblebees are able to us a combination of colour and spatial relationships in learning which flowers to forage from. Many species also exhibit what is known as “nectar robbing”: they do not insert the mouth parts into the flower as they normally would, but bite directly through the base of the corolla (the juglar) to extract nectar, avoiding pollen transfer. These bees obtain pollen from other species of flowers that they “legitimately” visit.

Okay…Now apply all these characteristics of the bumblebee to some people you know.

Isn’t your first instinct to be repulsed? Almost the first thought that comes to mind concerning people like this is: “forget how good, comfortable, warm, friendly they appear…they are dangerous!! I don’t like them…and, really, I could hate them!!”.

But the BIBLE tells us we should do otherwise. It reminds us that we have to go beyond our self…that we have to walk the high-road…that we have to live an over-coming life. Verses like the following teach us that we should love others inspite of “such-n-such” and “this and thats”,etc.

Romans 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
The Bible even teaches us to make melody in our heart regarding such circumstances/people we may face…
Psalm 133:1 A song of ascents. Of David. How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!
The Bible teaches us to avoid the act of harboring resentment, ill-will, and bitterness against those that hurt us.…
I Peter 1:22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

The Bible gives tall orders sometimes. But, the orders are needful.

Yes, sometimes it is best to be cautious...maybe even leave the “bumblebees” alone...however!...we must still love them. No matter what our assumption…opinion…of them is from time to time…they have a purpose…a work to do in God’s Kingdom. Let God take care of the rest. Perhaps God allowed them in your life to serve a purpose FOR YOU...to build in you a better character...to see your own self as you really are...to