Did you know that the Australian Coat of Arms contains two animals? They are the emu and the kangaroo. In a nation that is full of unique and interesting animals, why would the people of Australia choose these two to represent them?

Most of us know what a kangaroo is, but what is an emu? It is a large bird that cannot fly and looks much like an ostrich. Although the emu and kangaroo are very different creatures, they have something unusual in common. Neither of them can walk backwards. The emu has three toes on each foot, and if it tries to back up, it loses its balance and falls over. The kangaroo’s tail is so large it cannot back up because of the drag.

By choosing these two animals to represent them, Australians were saying, “Our desire is to move forward–-to progress, not regress.”

The writer of Hebrews expresses a similar thought. Hebrews 6:1 exhorts us to leave the elementary teachings about Christ. We do not leave them in the sense of abandoning them, but they are a foundation upon which to build. Laying a foundation is futile unless we raise above it a useful structure. Likewise, we are to build a mature Christian life on a foundation laid by our faith, repentance, baptism, etc.

The Christian who is not growing is going back toward unbelief. May that never happen to us.

Brian Giese

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of The Kewanee Voice.