Lessons from Fireflies

Last night as my wife and I returned from dinner with friends we pulled into the driveway to notice a large number of fireflies in our yard. We began to talk about how long it had been since we had seen any and for some reason it was like seeing them again for the first time as I began to wonder why and how they light up with such fervor (I'm sure this was something that was taught to me somewhere in my childhood, but was either forgotten or ignored). Thanks to the amazing internet I found out that a mixture of chemicals in the abdomen (enzymes luciferase and luciferin) answers the how and simple mating answers the why. Males are usually the ones you see flying around lighting up the sky while females, though at times may fly to meet them, typically signal from the ground to the male that she is willing to mate.

Here's where it gets interesting. Apparently there is a species of females that will send flashing signals to the males and once they get to her she eats them. That has to be the most heinous of let downs. Unsuspecting firefly thinks he's getting lucky but instead he's getting dead, an untimely death from a false beacon.

Of course that got me to thinking of obvious parallels in life and how I fall for false beacons that entice and steal from me, maybe not for the same reason as them, but ones that distract nonetheless. Luckily, the difference between us and the firefly is the ability to recognize danger when we see it (living out Romans 12:1-2 will be a good way to aid in this). Oswald Chambers once said "Beware of anything that competes for the loyalty of Jesus Christ." A great piece of advice to avoid the pitfall of the male firefly.