I went to a park the other day with my son's kindergarten class. The park has a small wildlife section that includes two bald eagles.
After seeing a couple of moms enjoying nachos, with a huge pile of cheese and jalapenos, I decided it was time for a snack. I left the kids with my wife and the other moms and headed for the concession building and the cheesy goodness that awaited me.
The eagle cage was on the way to the concessions. I was admiring the eagles when a nearby worker started using a drill. The eagle left its perch and began to soar right towards me. That is until it went about five feet. He tumbled awkwardly to the ground hitting a log on the way down.
The eagle is a prisoner. The enclosure is too small for him to fly. In his moment of panic he forgot the limitations placed on him by his captors.
If you have not submitted your life to Jesus then you are in captivity to sin. Only Christ can give you freedom from your sin. This is a sad place that everyone finds themselves in. However, what is truly sad is when a believer who has been freed from sin chooses to live in captivity. Unbelievers continually crash due to their lack of freedom and some believers chooses to sit and watch, not realizing that they could actually soar above it all.
Isaiah 40:31 says, "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Are you soaring in freedom, living in captivity, or choosing to voluntarily go back into the cage?
3 comments:
I love your analogy and line of thinking here. Also that is one of my favorite verses. Isaiah 40:28b-31 is at the top of my blog. (:
You make it sound so easy! Unfortunately, I don't think it is. You are right that most Christians, even after accepting Christ's forgiveness do not walk in freedom; but I don't think they realize it, or if they do, they don't know why. I would add that it doesn't 'feel' like a choice or a voluntary thing to go back into the cage. In fact, most never leave the cage in the first place even though the door is wide open. Indeed, Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death and it is now a choice for a Christian to sin, but unfortunately, there is no 'delete' button that erases all of our past hurts, habits and experiences. We are forgiven and cleansed but our memory is still in tact. We need to ask Jesus to dig out all those 'roots' in our hearts that cause us to continue in the sin pattern; roots like lust, anger, envy, greed, pride, slothfulness, fear and glutony. As we allow God to reveal these things in our hearts, admit them, give them back to God, and forgive those we need to forgive, only then will we walk in and experience freedom.
Unfortunately there are no scriptures to support a true believer following Christ by staying in the boat. Jesus always said follow me and even turned away 4 different individuals who were not ready to give Him their ALL. What we see when we see "Christians" who never left the cage is people who may not really KNOW Jesus. Sure they have prayed a prayer and wanted Heaven, but to know Him is to follow Him. I think that many people choose to live in the cage because they have not forgiven themselves. Like you said we still have our memories. Thanks for the comment it really made me think. I do not want to paint the Christian life as easy by any means. It is the hardest life to live but it is a life of freedom nonetheless.
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