Not Every Gift Has Value - Creation Moments

Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

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Human bridegrooms are not the only males who give gifts to their intended. The birds and the flies do it, too. We talked about how the bower bird woos his potential mate by building a hut for her and decorating it with bright objects. A relative of the dance fly presents his intended with a dead insect that is part of its diet. The bigger the insect, the more likely the female will accept the attention of the male courting her.

The dance fly presents its intended with a gift, the gift is essentially worthless. The courtship takes place early in the morning as the males swarm. Each courting male carries what looks like a balloon in its back legs. These shiny balloons are only a few millimeters in diameter. As far as we know they are of no value to the female, being made of nothing more than the male’s saliva. That may be why the females do not necessarily select the males with the largest balloon. Why did God build this behavior into the dance fly? Perhaps it reflects nothing more than the incredible creativity and variety that God built into His creation.

Or perhaps it was to remind us that not every gift has value so that we would be doubly thankful for His good gifts to us. And His greatest gift to us was the life, death and Resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer: I thank You, dear Father, for the gift of Your Son and the salvation He has made possible for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

Author: Paul A. Bartz

Ref: S.M., Nuptial balloons, Size doesn’t matter, Science News, v. 155, p.267. Photo: Dance fly. Courtesy of James Lindsey. (CC BY-SA 3.0)