Are Moths of Any Use?

We are told by those who make a study of insect life that there are more than 2000 varieties of moths in England. Some of these are very beautiful. We may, however, ask why the house moth was sent? It seems to do so much damage to our clothing, etc. Well, here is an answer: God knew that disease lurks in things, that are old and left unused in drawers and cupboards. It is the fear that moths may eat into the clothes that causes mother to periodically turn out drawers and cupboards. If this was not done, hidden microbes might harbour in them, and so spread disease. Moths teach us to be unselfish. It cannot be right to hoard up, and allow to lie unused, things that may be of service to others. We should have an occasional "turn out" and see what we can spare to give to others less fortunate than ourselves. We should give love to others, and not hug it all to ourselves, give forgiveness, and give it freely, not lock some of it up in the cupboards of our hearts. Christ Jesus gave us His love freely, all of it. He died because He loved us.

Here is another lesson that we may learn from the moth. A professor tells us that there is one kind of moth which has 4061 muscles in its little body, being nearly all muscle, and goes to prove that the little fellow must work very hard. If we wish to become physically strong we have to do exercises that will help to develop our muscles. To become strong in character we must have exercise; the more good actions and noble deeds we perform, the stronger it grows. The more often we do things that Jesus would have us do the stronger we grow in goodness, and like Him.

At school it is the same. To reach the top of the class, to pass our examinations, we must work hard. For instance, if we do not work hard at arithmetic, there will come a day when we shall need a good knowledge of this subject to help us in business, and will find, instead of the knowledge, a "hole" that the moth "laziness" has left.

Again, bad habits are like house moths, they may only make a small hole in our character at first; but, just as a few moth holes may spoil a whole garment, so a few bad habits can mar a whole character. Ask God to help you look for the "moth" of bad habit and kill it at once. Let us love and follow Christ, and lay up our heart's treasures in Heaven where "moths" cannot enter.

There is still another lesson that we may learn from the moth. We have all noticed how they are attracted towards the light. A moth will circle round and round a naked light, and get closer and closer to it, so close that it singes its wings, and at last will pass right through the flame and be burnt to death. Sin is to us, often, as the light is to the moth; it attracts. Some people are so attracted that they get nearer and nearer to it, soon it singes their character, and, sad to say, sometimes their lives are completely spoiled. The only safe thing to do is to go to Him who is the true Light, for the nearer that we get to Him the more strength shall we receive to resist all the alluring attractions of sin, and to overcome temptation.