All photos courtesy of Unsplash
When travelling through the countryside in the past, I often saw notices outside farms, houses and cottages, announcing ‘New Laid Eggs for Sale’. Today, there seem less notices offering eggs in this way. The whole business of delivering the humble egg to the home or food factory has developed into a major industry. Most people don’t realise what is involved in the journey of the egg from the chicken to the dining table.
Nowadays most eggs are purchased from supermarkets or shops or delivered in bulk to food producers; they are not bought on a country road. To supply millions of eggs constantly, there is a whole industry working day and night to meet the demand.
In 1951 in Lincolnshire, a man started his egg business with one hundred and fifty chickens and eight acres of land. In those early years eggs would be taken round to people on a pushbike or sold on a stall in local markets. Over a period of seventy years his family have grown the business until it has become one of Britain’s largest suppliers and packers of eggs. They now have two million free range and organic birds producing millions of eggs each week. In fact, each week around six million eggs are supplied to one of the biggest supermarket stores in Britain. All of this is supported by 40 rearing farms and the business’s dedication to both the quality and welfare of the birds. A nutritionist helps with the provision of an enriched feed diet. This includes paprika and marigold that gives the yolks a deep, rich orange colour.
Once the eggs are laid, a fleet of thirty vehicles transfers them to the packing centre. Here, each egg goes through a quality grading process. This checks for colour, cleanliness, and any damage to the shells. A staggering 382,000 eggs per hour can be graded by this particular business. Managing an operation as intensive as this calls for dedication on behalf of those who run the business. It is no easy job as it requires early starts, long hours, and commitment to every task, including the unpleasant role of jet washing the chicken sheds.
The presence of eggs is a testimony to the existence of life as they are not the result of any manufacturing process. There is no human involvement in producing them that is the chicken’s job. Life is one of the many things that man cannot create. Once the eggs are laid, then in reality, they can be used, either raw or cooked in some way. Similarly, the creation of life is entirely in God’s hands, for He alone is the Creator. He has not only created human, animal and plant life but he can give eternal life to any who are willing to trust Him. This source of new life is through Him alone. The crowning work of God’s creation was man. Man is the most important created being that God made but you would never guess this when you look at how many of us behave. Humans have constantly sinned since very early on in this #world’s history. God has seen how we all behave and His conclusion is that no one is righteous, ‘for all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God, ’ Romans 3. 23.
Wonderfully, however, God has not left this awful situation to fester and get worse. He did something very special about it. He sent His perfect and well loved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ into this world to be the supreme sacrifice for your sin and mine. God required payment for our sin and only His Son qualified to make that payment. This was because the Lord Jesus was holy and without flaw in His character. The payment was made with His life - His life for ours - on a cross. He did it in love, love for you, love to save you from the consequences of your sin and to give you eternal life.
So when you next pick up a pack of eggs, take time to think about the fact that God has given you physical life but think - have I got the new life that God offers through His Son, Jesus Christ? You can have this if you repent of your sin and put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ?
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (07/07/24)
Written by RODERICK BARTON
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