The Meerkat

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin. (James 4:13-17 ESV).

Meerkats are a type of Mongoose. You will find them in the wild on the broad plains of the Kalahari. They are an interesting study in cooperation. You will never see the young unattended. Even when both the mother and father must be away from the young to forage, another will tend the young in their place. They are very watchful; standing on their hind legs and balancing with their tails to look for any danger that might come to the “gang” (as the group is called). It seems that each Meerkat has an assignment in the gang according to their individual ability and each of them performs it without question. They know what to do and simply go do it.

Burying one's talent is a grave mistake. The following story appeared in the September 1995 issue of Law Enforcement Bulletin:

"Officer Shirley M. Atherton of the Pinellas Park, Florida, Police Department responded to a call of people trapped inside a burning house. When Officer Atherton arrived on the scene, she observed a woman covered with soot exiting the front door. The woman was able to tell Officer Atherton that her husband was still inside the house. Although smoke was billowing from the windows and doors, Officer Atherton entered the residence to search for the man. As she crawled under the smoke, she heard someone coughing, followed by what sounded like a body falling to the floor. Officer Atherton located the victim but was unable to revive him. She then dragged the unconscious man out of the house onto the lawn, where she revived him. Hospital personnel later determined that the man had suffered a stroke and probably would have perished in the blaze if not for the actions of Officer Atherton."

Shirley Atherton, like the Meerkat, simply knew what to do and went and did it. There are needs all around us. They may not involve something as urgent as saving a life, but important needs still exist. The key question is, do we work together or not? You have many opportunities to make a real difference for now, and for eternity. For example, your most important need is to have a strong relationship with God. Family, friends and co-workers have needs you can help meet. What would be revealed by a heavenly audit of how well you are meeting these responsibilities? Adopt as your motto the words of Edward Everett Hale, author of "The Man Without a Country":

I am only one, but I am one.
I cannot do everything, but I can do something.
What I can do, I ought to do.
And what I ought to do,
By the grace of God, I shall do!