It is possible to live our entire lives from the wrong perspective. Believing we are right, we can be wrong. A perfect example of that is the man or woman who says he/she is an atheist. Bad choice! Or how about the one who chooses a lifestyle or belief system which is contrary to the Biblical one? Believing they are right will not get them into heaven. Thinking we are hitting the target most definitely does not guarantee us a bullseye.
In preparation for this week’s sermon, I ran across an old illustration which comes from American Indian lore. An Indian brave found an egg that had been laid by an eagle. Not being able to return the egg to an eagle’s nest, the next best thing to do was to put it in the nest of a prairie chicken. The hen sat on the egg, along with her own, and it eventually hatched. The story continues…
All his life, the changeling eagle, thinking he was a prairie chicken, did what the prairie chickens did. He scratched in the dirt for seeds and insects to eat. He clucked and cackled. And he flew in a brief thrashing of wings and flurry of feathers no more than a few feet off the ground.
Years passed. And the changeling eagle grew very old. One day, he saw a magnificent bird far above him in the cloudless sky. Hanging with graceful majesty on the powerful wind currents, it soared with scarcely a beat of its strong golden wings.
“What a beautiful bird!” said the…eagle to his neighbor. “What is it?”
“That’s an eagle-the chief of the birds,” said the neighbor clucked. “But don’t give it a second thought. You could never be like him.”
So the changeling eagle never gave it another thought. And it died thinking it was a prairie chicken.
And we would say what a tragedy! Designed to soar into the heavens, plunge to earth or water to get its food, and once again to soar majestically, this eagle settled for grubbing worms and seeds from dirt.
Is that any different than the jumble of humanity who sell their souls for temporary pleasure? There is sometimes a fine line between a wise person and a fool. This Sunday’s sermon is entitled Be Sensible-Be Wise from Ecclesiastes 10. I’ll be probing what it means to be both this week. I hope you will join me either in person or online. And as I always ask, either way or if you can’t, I would appreciate your prayers.
Yes, what a sad story, Bill, but I’m sure your sermon will be anything but sad. Looking forward to Sunday!
Thanks again for showing up and listening Martha.
I can’t even begin to say how many times I’ve gone the way of temporary pleasures.
I’ll be there Sunday.. I hope. 😛
I look forward to hearing from you Ed.
These days, it seems to be easier to tell a wise person from a fool.
Our true colors show under pressure, don’t they.
Very true Linda. There is a fine line between them but wisdom does show.
I am working with a lady now who has fallen for the lie she can no longer soar like an eagle. One because she lost her son to heart disease and two her health has went down hill. In our conversations she has told me she has a hard time believing God loves her and mostly because of the hardship she is facing. I am praying she not just grabs the truth of God’s love for her and can separate it from her circumstances which are no caused by any sin from her. We walk by our belief systems no matter what is happening in our lives. Great story about the eagle. I may post that on my facebook one day this week. Good message brother.
There are so many people like that woman Betty. It is so sad. I hope you can help her find her way and identity in Jesus. And by all means post that illustration. I “borrowed” it from somewhere who also borrowed it from somewhere, etc. 🙂