Little lemmings – don’t jump!
There is a human tendency to just follow the crowd. We, in that way, are like sheep…but we are also similarly like the proverbial lemming. Let’s take a quick look at our furry little friend – the lemming.
Lemmings are small rodents in the superfamily Muroidea, which also includes rats, mice, hamsters, and gerbils. They are found in or near the Arctic and are subniveal animals; living between the ground and the layer of snow or tundra that rests on it. A peculiar behavior of lemmings is that they, driven by strong biological urges, will migrate when their population density threatens their survival.
During these migrations, lemmings will travel away from the primary group and search for new habitat. At times the lemmings will reach a cliff overlooking the ocean. Stopping at the edge of the cliff, the lemmings then, motivated by the urge to press on, they jump off the cliff and into the ocean. They do naturally swim, but due to the expanse of water and the power of the waves, the little lemmings drown due to exhaustion. One by one the little lemmings hurtle themselves over the cliff to their impending demise. This sad and bewildering event baffles scientists. But, God, through the lemming, is teaching us a valuable lesson.
We too, as humans, often follow the crowd and, in the manner of so many little lemmings over the millennia, hurtle ourselves unwittingly into harms way – when all the warning signs of danger are clearly evident. We see this behavior played out each year as so many in America and around the globe take part in Halloween customs – customs clearly understood by any logical person, after picking up an encyclopedia and reading of this “holiday’s” origins, to be nothing more than commercialized versions of more sinister and evil beginnings. It certainly is no stretch of the imagination to look at all that the day conjures up – goblins, witches, ghosts, skeletons, et al. – and understand the nature of what is being celebrated.
The scriptures say that, “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, but the simple pass on and are punished” (Prov 22:3, also Prov 27:12). The age-old question is illustrated powerfully in the example of the little lemmings: “If your friends asked you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?” Sadly, the answer for so many remains “Yes!” year after year in their keeping of the Halloween tradition of men. We must not and should not follow popular opinion, basing our behavior and principles on misguided man under the influence of Satan the Devil (Rev 12:9), and instead make sure that our opinion, our traditions, our hearts are in total agreement with the word of God.
I believe the following graphic video illustration underlines the point I am trying to make:
