You Were Meant To Soar!

Hosea 6:6  I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.

In his book "Run with the Horses," Eugene Peterson tells how he saw a family of birds teaching their young to fly. Three young swallows were perched on a branch that stretched out over a lake. One adult swallow got alongside the chicks and started shoving them out toward the end of the branch, pushing, pushing, pushing until the end one fell off. Then somewhere between the branch and the water below, the wings started working, and the fledgling was off on his own.

The adult swallow then repeated this tactic again, pushing, pushing, pushing until the next young bird fell off and had its first flight.

The last young swallow was determined not to be bullied. When the parent swallow came pushing, pushing, pushing, the young bird refused to let go. He even hung upside down on the branch hoping not to be bullied off.

The parent bird was without mercy. He pecked at the desperately clinging claws until it was more painful for the poor chick to hang on than risk the insecurities of flying. The grip was released, and the inexperienced wings began pumping. The mature swallow knew what the chick did not--that it would fly, that there was no danger in making it do what it was perfectly designed to do.

Birds have feet and can walk. But flying is what they were designed to do, and not until they fly are they living at their best, graceful and beautiful and free.

It’s the same way with us. We can refuse to obey God and cling to the branch, or we can obey him and learn true freedom. We’re only truly free when we obey God’s call and commands. So go ahead and let go of the branches of disobedience in your life. You were meant to soar!

Today’s Readings:  Hosea 6-9; Hebrews 3

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