The mass of bodies looks almost like a large boulder sitting in the midst of the white Antarctic landscape, but as the camera moves in it becomes obvious that it is a living thing ? a huddle of penguins. We watched The March of the Penguins a few nights ago and as we did we understood what all the fuss has been about. The film is a delight and an awe-inspiring record of God?s amazing design in creation.

One scene in the film ? the one described above ? made me smile. The huddle of bodies are all male. They look like a large boulder because they have their heads tucked in to keep warm. They are carrying their offspring around on their feet, covered by a protective flap of skin and fur that keeps out the sub-zero temperatures. They are waiting for their mates to return with the food that will keep the tiny ones alive. They have to wait for several long months. In the meantime the males have saved a pocket of nourishment for the babies. It is enough to keep them alive until the females come.

The scene that made me smile was the one where they show the females returning. Suddenly the rounded boulder-like shape moves and all the heads pop up. Then the noise begins as fathers and babies begin to trumpet so that their mates can find them. The resulting cacophony made me laugh out loud. It was so obviously joyful, so full of the sudden energy of anticipation.

It made me wonder what the day will be like when Christ returns. We are a lot like those penguins, waiting in a huddle, doing what we have to do to survive. We have been given enough to keep us going ? enough in the physical realm and enough in the spiritual. In 1 Corinthians1:7, the apostle Paul writes ??Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.? But we are eagerly waiting because there is something built into us that knows there is so much more to be had. Just like those penguins who know that one day the female will return with a banquet for that baby.

We are eagerly waiting, knowing that some day our heads will look up and know He has come back. That moment, too, will be full of joy, full of sudden energy. It is described in the book of Matthew, chapter 24, verse 27 ? ?For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.? And there will be trumpeting then, too, as Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonions 4:16 ? ?For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God.?

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Marcia Laycock is a pastor's wife and freelance writer living in Alberta Canada.  Her devotional book, The Spur of the Moment has been endorsed by Janette Oke, Phil Callaway and others.  To order, and to view more of Marcia's writing, see her web site - www.vinemarc.com
Copyright Marcia Lee Laycock, 2000, 2001,2002,2003,2004,2005,2006