Storybook Room #449 - Hermit Crab

0:00Every day, O'Bordner, I'm a Hermit Crab. Well, hi, Mr. Hermit Crab. May I call you Hermit? Sure, call me anything, but late for meal, Uncle Ball. Hey, why are you called a Hermit Crab? Tell me. Because I live like a Hermit, all alone, all by my loansome, and I'm very happy that way, too. Oh, well, cheery all for you. Where do you live? Oh, for the first year of my life, I live in the ocean I have to. Then after I'm grown up, I crawl out on the sand and live in trees. Now, wait, wait a minute. You don't have lungs, do you? No, I'm a guild breather. Well, guild breather's need water. Oh, I'm aware of that. We'll better explain how you stay alive, then. I just keep my guilds moist when I'm on the land. Oh, I see. What do you do take an occasional dip in the ocean? Yeah, and my guilds stay moist for a long time, and I'm able to get fresh oxygen into my blood and stay alive. Well, Rudy, too, too. Is it true that you're born without a shell? It is, yes. I look sort of like a shrimp.

1:01My body is in the shape of a banana. Hmm, I noticed that, too. But do you grow a shell, Hermit? No, my creator had other plans. You don't grow a shell. I wonder what these other plans were. Then I find an empty shell on the ocean floor. An empty shell? And you make that your home? Yes. Many times it'll be an empty snail shell or a conch. And you can fit into that, okay? Sure. My body is very small and very soft when I'm young. And the shell fits me beautifully. Me too. So really, your creator meant for you to get some use out of these old shells in the ocean. But why sure, Uncle Ball? I mean, why let them go to waste? Good conservation in the ocean. Now, Hermit and Hermit Crab. As you grow, you have to change shells, right? That's right. I'm always changing shells. I never keep the same one very long as long as I grow. I have to have a new house. Right. Okay, now imagine some of these shells could be a little tricky to get into. What do you do back in? Yeah, until my tail end bumps against the back of the shell.

2:01And then with my four little legs, I grab a hold of the shell and hang on. And you're able to tuck yourself completely in that shell? Sure. Hmm, question I have unanswered. Do you have a door? I mean, some critter could bite you if you didn't. Yeah, he would if I wouldn't make a special door out of my right leg. A door out of your right leg? How does that work, Hermit? After I took my soft banana-shaped body into the shell, I put my large right claw in front of my face right over the opening safe. It acts like a door. Yeah, and a good one too, Uncle Bob. Now, are you saying that your right claw is larger than your left, Hermit and Hermit Crab? Yes, it was designed that way. It was meant to be my door. It's just like a boxer who fights with his left hand and uses his right hand as a guard near his head. Okay, I understand you. And your left claw? Yeah, it's smaller, and it's used to tear up my food. Hmm, purpose for everything, isn't there? What do you eat? A little fish and plants in the water and on land, too. Now, as you grow, you can feel the shell getting tighter and tighter around your body, can't you?

3:04Yeah, as I told you, a moment ago, that's time to switch houses. I crawl around on the bottom of the ocean until I discover a bigger shell. Sometimes it's a large, conscious shell, or a hollowed out piece of bamboo that's fallen in the water, or even a broken coconut shell. Hermit, as you change shells, you're obviously unprotected, your soft body is exposed. Right, and that's why I do it very fast. I'll dart out of my small shell and book into that new larger shell very rapidly. And if it isn't large enough, I'll crawl back into my old one-test and keep on hunting until I find just the right size shell. And that's mighty important, I'm sure, because a lot of big fish down there think you're a tasty morsel. For this reason, Occable, my creator has taught me a fantastic way of protecting myself. Ah, this is what I want to hear, explain yourself. And now you've heard about sea anemones, right? Oh sure, A-N-E-M-O-N-E sounds like animal. Really, they look like very colorful plants in the ocean, only they're really animals.

4:04Yeah, and you're familiar with their tentacles? Right, they're very poisonous, and any sea critter who touches them is stung. Yeah, these are naturally fish and other sea creatures prefer to stay away from them if they know what's good for them. Okay, but how does all of this apply to you? Now my great creator taught me to make friends with the anemone. And he taught the anemone to make friends with me, the ermat crab. Now, he put this information in our genes so we know to do this automatically. Hey, this is a super scientific design hermit crab. Tell me more. He wears an outro over to a small anemone, and let him know that I'm there. And then what? He'll move his suction cup foot upon top of my shell then. And he'll just stick there? Oh sure, once he puts his suction foot down, he'll really stick. Really? So now wherever you go, Hermie, he goes along with you. That's right. That means that you have to share your food with him too. He is, and he shares his with me too. Oh, you benefit each other. Sure, lots of silly, tiny fish accidentally swim into the tentacles of the anemone,

5:09thinking they can hide from their enemies, but... The anemone stings them with their poison then. Dinner is... And you share in it. Right, with the pencils on my front claws, I snag a little fish that the anemone has numbed and start to eat him. The little pieces of the fish float over my head and into the tentacles of the anemone, and he eats it too. One of the neat things about your friendship with the anemone is that he protects you. Right, any smart sea critter or fish knows it's not wise to dangle with an anemone, or they might get stung to death. So really, he's your weapon. Oh, sometimes I have two anemones on my shell. No kidding. Sure, whatever I think is necessary. So what do you do when you outgrow your shell? Oh, I'll have to get out and find a larger shell. And ask your anemone friend to move on top of that one? Yeah, you better believe it, Uncle Bob. I still want that protection and the food that the anemone provides me. And I'm sure the anemone appreciates the food that you bring to him. Yeah, man, right on, he sure does.

6:10Now, hermit or hermit crab, I understand that some of your relatives in the South Pacific leave the ocean and climb trees. Yeah, he climbs a coconut tree. Well, what's his purpose? What's his act? To get a coconut, don't be. Yeah, I guess I bid for that one, hermit, but I really didn't think he was that big. So sure, about five inches across. Man, how does he get the coconut down? The way he scampers up the tree using his sharp claws and he snaps a coconut off letting it fall to the ground. And then he breaks it open and eats it? Sure, he makes it all in it with his sharp, pincer claws and enjoys the white coconut meat under milk too. Mm-hmm, but while he does this, he has to be sure that he keeps his gills wet because he's out of the water. If that's no problem for him, Uncle Bob, he doesn't need much moisture like I said a while ago. Often, he has enough on his gills to even take a nap in the tree and still be healthy. Oh, for landscape. That makes sense, then, why it's so easy for hermit crab to live out of the water. Right, I just need an occasional dip in the ocean to moisten my gills.

7:14And I'm in good shape again. Ermi, your visit's been very interesting. Thanks for stopping in. Oh, you're welcome, Uncle Bob. Right now, I'm going back to the ocean, though. Yeah, because there's a couple of anomalies that want to go fishing with me. Look out, you don't get stung or eaten. No worry about that, Uncle Bob. All I need to do is just follow the laws my creator made. And I think I'll be okay. Just follow, just follow, follow. The creator of the hermit crab is the Lord Jesus Christ. Since this great designer has a plan for hermit, what do you think he has for you? Think it over. The Bible word righteousness means to be right with God. But how is a person made right with God? The Lord Jesus and His disciples are discussing this now. That's right. And gentlemen, let me tell you this. Unless your righteousness is much greater than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees,

8:20you'll never, positively, never enter the kingdom of heaven. Run that one through again, Master. Yes, please. All right. Unless your righteousness is much greater than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you'll never, positively, never enter the kingdom of heaven. I'll tell you that. That's heavy, man. I'll tell you that. If the Pharisees will never make it with their righteousness, how will we ever? The words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5.20, but what do the Pharisees think about that? All right, Pharisee brothers and brothers and carefully. This is what we want the people to see. And I might say this is very important, brother. That's right. For the people of Israel respect us as very a righteous man because of the things that we do. Which brings up the first point Alexander. I mean, that is the giving of your arms to the poor and the beggars.

9:27Arms. Arms. Have mercy on this poor blind beggar. Arms. Thank you, brother. It's all right. Arms. Arms. Thank you. You're welcome. Here comes two Pharisees down the street. Okay, justice. Let's wait till the crowd gets a little bigger there. They're getting ready to cross the street. That's the perfect timing. And then we'll give him our arms. Do you have your Ramshorn handy? Yes. Already. All right. Sound it. The crowd is crossing the street. Now we want the attention. Like the Pharisees. Great. Come quickly. What's the Pharisees? The Pharisees. Arms. Arms. Young man, we will help you. From our treasury, we Pharisees out of the goodness of our heart. We'll give to your cause. Yes. God bless you.

10:28Oh, thank you, sir. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You're welcome. You're welcome. Welcome indeed. Give them a hand, folks. Marvellous. Marvellous. Marvellous. Yes. Yes, they're so righteous. That's a true example of righteousness, really. But the problem was the Pharisees were depending on this kind of righteousness to save them and take them to heaven. The Lord Jesus is speaking with His disciples again. Gentlemen, look at it this way. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your father who's in heaven. When you give arms, don't sound a trumpet before you, like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets. They want to be honored by men. I tell you, truly, they have their reward in full.

11:28Yeah. Yeah. Sounds just like those Pharisees, doesn't it, John? Right. That's what you'll do. That's right. That's right. Exactly. Master, would you repeat once more what you said about the Pharisees and their righteousness? Yeah. Right. Give that one more time. Okay, man. I said, unless your righteousness is much greater than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you'll never, positively, never enter the kingdom of heaven. The words of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 5.20, but what did he mean? Let's call in the Apostle Paul. Maybe he can help us. Yes, sir. Good day, my friend. Hi, Paul. What do you think the Lord Jesus meant? Well, my gentile friend before I tell you, I'll say this. I used to be a Pharisee before I was saved. Yeah, I feel I understand how the Pharisees think. Hey, that's right. You used to be a Pharisee, Paul. You see, the Pharisees believe that you get to heaven or you get eternal life by your own righteous works, the things that you do.

12:31But God's Word says, that's not to wait for us. How does it work, Paul? You need more righteousness than that kind of righteousness. See, that's not good enough. That's what the Lord Jesus meant when He said, unless your righteousness is greater than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, it will never enter the kingdom of heaven. It's got to be more. It's got to be better. No, their righteousness was good. Why not denying that, my friend? I'm saying this, it wasn't good enough to get them to heaven. They need God's righteousness. That's a whole lot better than their righteousness, and that's what the Lord Jesus meant. Interesting, Paul. So how do you get God's righteousness credited to your count? By faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He fully paid for your sin on the cross, and He rose again. When you tell Him you believe He did that for you, He gives you His righteousness. He credits it to your account. See, it comes by faith. And that kind of righteousness is better than the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees.

13:31A million times better, my friend. A million times better. The righteousness that you get from the Lord Jesus Christ by faith is the kind of righteousness that saves you right now. And guarantees you a home in heaven. He'll never cast me out. I need no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me. How about you, my friend? Do you have the righteousness from Jesus Christ? If you don't, pray to Him right now, and make sure. Today's true story came from Matthew chapter 5, verse 20, chapter 6, verses 1 and 2, and Paul's comments came from Philippians chapter 3, verses 5 and 9. Okay, my friend, that storybook room for today

14:31will be looking for you next time. Till then, Uncle Bob, Cheerio.