My online computer dictionary gives me the following definition of the word “extinct”:
“Extinct is an adjective which, when it speaks of a species, family, or other large group, means it has no living members. Example: trilobites and dinosaurs are extinct. Synonyms: vanished, lost, died out, no longer existing, no longer extant, wiped out, destroyed.”
I share that piece of information with you because, although I wouldn’t know a smoothtooth blacktip shark (henceforth referred to as STBS) if it bit me on the ankle, scientists have said the beastie is extinct. Indeed, the last known specimen of the STBS was given to the Vienna Museum in 1902. So there you have it. The STBS is vanished, lost, died out, no longer existing, no longer extant, wiped out, destroyed.
Now here’s the newsflash: the STBS is not quite as extinct as scientists have thought. So say the researchers who found one for sale in a Kuwaiti fish market. A little bit more research produced another 47 specimens of the STBS.
Amazing, isn’t it?
Maybe it’s time we realized just because we haven’t seen something for a long time doesn’t mean that thing doesn’t exist. We may not have seen the STBS for over 100 years, but the STBS is still out there swimming around in the recesses of the deep. So, too, humanity may not have seen the Triune God, but that doesn’t mean He isn’t there.
To find the STBS, researchers had to look in a fish market. To find the Lord, all we need do is take a look at nature, take a peek at our conscience, and read through God’s Holy Word.
If we do, we will hear the Lord speak to Job and to us. He will tell us that sometimes we aren’t nearly as smart as we think we are. There are times when we speak without knowledge or understanding.
All of this helps explain why God’s people live by faith. They trust in their Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. He who knows all has always told us the truth, and the truth He tells is this: God’s Son has come to seek and save the lost.
And that, my friends, is a fact which will never become extinct, vanished, lost, died out, no longer existing, no longer extant, wiped out, or destroyed.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, Your Word is truth. Grant that I may cling to that truth which tells of the Savior who has won salvation and forgiveness for me. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.