Birds have been showing up a lot in my life recently. Not one specific bird, just birds in general. Recently I have been waking up to the birds singing outside my window, and not my alarm; there are turkey vultures and hawks that catch the winds and just hover and dive above the soccer, softball, and baseball fields; blue jays and robins sing outside my work window during the day. Then Wednesday, I read a Stuff Christians Like entry (here is the post) that really spoke to me. To quickly summarize, the passage is Leviticus 14:49-53 which talks about a purification ceremony. It involved sacrificing one bird and then dipping the live bird (and other materials) in the bowl that held the blood of the sacrificed bird. Then, the live bird was to be released.
Jon Acuff's point was that the bird that was set free, the bird that was bathed in the blood of the sacrifice, probably didn't mosey down the street and out of town. Rather, it flew out of there as fast as its little wings could cary it. Right now, God is teaching me what it looks like to be that bird, the one that was set free because of the death of the first bird. My reaction to being set free should be to stretch my wings and take to the skies, riding the winds and soaring in freedom; to fly towards the sun. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am finally having that reaction. Most of my life, I have been the bird that strolls down the street, or worse yet, the bird that has been given freedom but remains in a cage, too afraid to venture into the skies. My cage is comfortable - there's food, water, protection, and others around me. But, no matter how comfortable the cage is, at the end of the day, it is not the freedom that I have been given.
I have been a Christian for some time now, but this is the first time that I have felt this kind of freedom. I feel a lightness and joy that is so unlike anything I have experienced before that it can only be from God. I want nothing more than to continue flying towards the sun and to have others fly with me. I pray that this be the attitude of my heart when I go back to Belgium. I pray that the freedom that I have in Christ will be seen by the people that we meet and that they will want to leave their cages and soar with me. I want to take to the skies and sing the song that God has given me to sing. My song is beautiful, but it pales in comparison to the song that could be made by singing with other birds.
Jon Acuff's point was that the bird that was set free, the bird that was bathed in the blood of the sacrifice, probably didn't mosey down the street and out of town. Rather, it flew out of there as fast as its little wings could cary it. Right now, God is teaching me what it looks like to be that bird, the one that was set free because of the death of the first bird. My reaction to being set free should be to stretch my wings and take to the skies, riding the winds and soaring in freedom; to fly towards the sun. For the first time in my life, I feel like I am finally having that reaction. Most of my life, I have been the bird that strolls down the street, or worse yet, the bird that has been given freedom but remains in a cage, too afraid to venture into the skies. My cage is comfortable - there's food, water, protection, and others around me. But, no matter how comfortable the cage is, at the end of the day, it is not the freedom that I have been given.
I have been a Christian for some time now, but this is the first time that I have felt this kind of freedom. I feel a lightness and joy that is so unlike anything I have experienced before that it can only be from God. I want nothing more than to continue flying towards the sun and to have others fly with me. I pray that this be the attitude of my heart when I go back to Belgium. I pray that the freedom that I have in Christ will be seen by the people that we meet and that they will want to leave their cages and soar with me. I want to take to the skies and sing the song that God has given me to sing. My song is beautiful, but it pales in comparison to the song that could be made by singing with other birds.
Lord, help me live in Your freedom so the song You have given me is heard, not in fear that keeps me silent.A bird does not sing because it has an answer. It sings because it has a song. - Chinese proverb
I love that we have complimenting posts!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.jttracks.com/life/pink-floyd/
you know well my obsession with birds. I have always loved the freedom they represent and the dependence they must have on God.
ReplyDeleteAlso, in A Collision by David Crowder he quotes this poem by Vaughn Willaims I thought you would like.
"'He rises and begins to round,
He drops a silver chain of sound
Of many links without a break,
In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake
For singing till his heaven fills,
‘T is love of earth that he instills,
And ever winging up and up,
Our valley is his golden cup,
And he the wine which overflows
To lift us with him as he goes
Till lost on his aerial rings
In light, and then the fancy sings'"