He made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them. He keeps every promise forever.
Psalm 146:6
The river Nith is a 5-minute walk from our house. It is a tidal river which can on occasions be quite high depending on the weather, but regardless of that I still find walking the path on the banks so peaceful and refreshing especially in the mornings. Walking there you don’t really know what you are going to find but the early mornings is when you catch most of the wildlife.
One of the regular visitors to the river is an Otter and it has its playground at several parts of the Nith. We’ve seen him sunbathe on a large stone in the middle of the river usually after a meal, slide down a muddy slope into the water. Sometimes he disappears for a while under the water then shows himself again often having caught a fish.
The Otter is a beautiful streamlined animal, it has webbed feet which make it an excellent swimmer. It can swim underwater for a quarter mile without coming up for air. Most times you come across this animal you find it playful and it appears to have been given the ability to really enjoy life. It loves to play all kinds of games with other otters, even wrestling and playing hide-and-seek with them. Just about any loose item it finds in the river soon becomes a plaything.
I hadn’t seen him around for a while, that was until recently when there was a great commotion up the river nearer the town. The photographers had arrived back looking for a picture which is a sure sign that the Otter has returned home. Observing the situation though, he wasn’t in the mood for playing, for on a closer look, it was clear the otter was wrestling with a very large salmon, a specimen any angler would have been proud to catch and would definitely be grounds for a selfie on social media. The story doesn’t end there though, for the otter dragged the salmon from where he caught it to an area a fair distance downstream to where he could have his meal in peace.
The habits of the otter are certainly amusing as we observe its good way of life. Wouldn't it be wonderful though if humans could live together in such a happy way? Sadly, the human race seldom does this because of the evil nature that lives within us. Satan takes every advantage of it, in every possible way.
1 John 5:19 says: “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one”.
The Lord Jesus can change things for us if we allow Him, for He gave himself for us. Isn’t this the whole point of Easter? Scripture tells us: When believers live in harmony, expressing their love for one another by sharing tears in times of sorrow and expanding their joy by celebrating together, they become appealing witnesses to their hope in Christ.
Enjoy our day, we ‘otter’ do that!
Tom Bonnar
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