The Praying-mantis has been called the “dinosaur” of the insect  world because of it’s almost prehistoric-looking body.  Unlike other insects, the mantis has the ability not only to move it’s head in such a way as to look over it’s shoulder, it can wash it’s face cat-fashion. It can even lower it’s head and drink like a horse!  And if you ever catch one for a pet, you’ll soon discover it will take food from your hand.

Even though the mantis gives the appearance of being in an attitude of prayer, it can be very nasty.  As a female mantis matures, and particularly when she is carrying eggs, her one consuming desire is to eat.  In her quest for food she devours other members of the mantis family, including her own mate.

Can you believe this?….even when the male is in the mating process of fertilizing hundreds of the female’s eggs she turns on him.  She’ll clutch him in her saw-toothed forelegs, turn her arrow-shaped head backwards, bite off his head and placidly start chewing down his thorax.  As soon as the fertilization is completed she eats all of him!

NATURE-ly SPEAKING, a spiritual principle can be learned from the cannibalistic nature of this pious looking insect.

     The mantis reminds me of some pharisaical (or, sometimes referred to as “holier-than-thou”) types.  Outwardly they take on an attitude of prayerful spirituality; inwardly, however, they are ready to pounce, rip-apart, and devour others.  They are the cause of constant turmoil, especially within the framework of a church body.

     The Apostle Paul describes this type of person as one who is controlled by “his own sinful desires.”  He says in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, “Dear Brothers and Sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to mature Christians.  I had to talk to you as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk and not with solid food, because you couldn’t handle anything stronger.  And you still aren’t ready, for you are still controlled by your own sinful desires.  You are jealous of one another and quarrel  with each other.  Doesn’t that prove you are controlled by your own sinful desires?”

     I believe these “mantis Christians” are used by Satan to cause the unsaved to ignore the Christian faith.  God warns these people in the strongest of terms when He said in Luke 17:2, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and be cast into the sea.”

     Unfortunately, “mantis Christians” can be found in most every type of Christian organization.  They not only make everyone around them miserable, but they feel miserable themselves.  (I’m not sure, but maybe it’s a “stage” we all go through.  I’d appreciate any comments and insight you might have.)  Someone has said, “Every saint (Christian) has a past, and every sinner has a future.”

     But, of this I am convinced, God’s love and forgiveness can take every “mantis Christian” and change them to be  a positive force within the body of Christ. (So, never, never give up on them.)  All that’s needed is a healthy and humble application of the same Biblical formula that any Christian who sins uses to get back into a mature fellowship with God.  It’s simply following the instruction found in 1 John 1:9  which says, “If we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.”

     After that, it’s a joyful step into a dynamic Christian life filled with peace, joy, and fellowship with fellow believers.