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Sermon Illustrations > Bible > Butterfly or Bee

Butterfly or Bee


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According to James Hamilton, there are two kinds of Bible readers&md;those who skim the surface and those who dig deep. He describes them by comparing them to two common insects. He writes,

"One is remarkable for its imposing plumage, which shows in the sunbeams like the dust of gems; as you watch its jaunty gyrations over the fields and its minuet dance from flower to flower, you cannot help admiring its graceful activity, for it is plainly getting over a great deal of ground.

But in the same field there is another worker, whose brown vest and businesslike, straightforward flight may not have arrested your eye. His fluttering neighbor darts down here and there, and sips elegantly wherever he can find a drop of ready nectar; but this dingy plodder makes a point of alighting everywhere, and wherever he alights he either finds honey or makes it. If the flower-cup be deep, he goes down to the bottom; if its dragon-mouth be shut, he thrusts its lips asunder; and if the nectar be peculiar, he explores all about till he discovers it. … His rival of the painted velvet wing has no patience for such dull and long-winded details. … The one died last October. The other is warm in his hive, amidst the fragrant stores he has gathered."

Which type of Bible reader are you? Butterfly or bee?