If you choose to hang out with turkeys, don’t be surprised when you end up in the roaster pan of life! If you choose to hang out with eagles, in time you’ll learn to soar to the heights. In the short-term, turkeys are the easier choice because they don’t make any demands of us. They don’t challenge us to do anything with excellence. They don’t lead us to push ourselves to learn new things, to exercise self-discipline to gain a long-term goal, or to deny our own selfish whims because we love God, family, and other people. Turkeys just like to sit around and swap stories of how it might be ‘if only they had better luck.’ They are content to scratch around on the ground until they become somebody’s supper. Eagles spread their wings and ride the winds, even the stormy ones, to higher heights.
The Bible teaches the same principle a lot more eloquently: "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm." (Proverbs 13:20, NIV) I knew a boy of lesser innate ability who chose to associate himself with students with brains and discipline. He was challenged to rise above what most people thought he was capable of achieving. I have also known teens with all the ‘right stuff,’ who chose to hang with the crowd that is going nowhere but to parties. When they chased the good times, the laughter, and the acceptance of turkeys who were happy to welcome them to their unchallenged group, their bright promise faded to mediocrity, a fact they only realized when they were still telling the same stories with the same people two decades later!
Here’s the saddest story: it’s when a Christian disciple decides that pursuing the best things of God, a holy life, a disciplined life of devotion and service, is ‘too hard.’ He seldom actually says that to himself or anyone else. Instead, he says, “God is leading me in a different direction.” That is almost always out the door and away from friends who would challenge him to do his ‘utmost for God’s highest.' Instead, he finds a group where all that’s expected is that you ‘hang on’ at the fringe, where hard teaching is never heard. Instead, the emphasis is on glory stories, easy to believe miracle tales, and promises that you can ‘get all of God’ in a few minutes of emotional response to the Spirit. Turkeys misuse the grace of Christ, twisting it inside out, and making it and excuse to indulge whims. It’s a life without commitment, without sacrifice, and lived in sin, which he no longer calls by its real name!
The eagle determines to leave that behind. He finds those who will coach and encourage, whose lives of excellence show the way. "Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires." (Romans 13:13-14, NLT) Truthfully, if you want to soar on wings like eagles, enjoying the vistas from the heights of life, there are no miracle solutions or short-cuts. It’s a path of discipleship, led by the Holy Spirit, through times of trial and victory, weeping and celebrations.
In the book of Acts we read the story of the developing Church. One of the eagles is Paul. In Lystra, he preached the Gospel and a man was healed. The citizens were impressed and thought he was the god, Zeus, so they tried to worship him. Being fickle then, as people are now, in a couple of days later they turned against the preacher. They dragged him out the city where they stoned him and left him for dead! With classic understatment, Dr. Luke says when Paul recovered he went back to Lystra to teach the Believers he had left there. "Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia, where they strengthened the believers. They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God." (Acts 14:21-22, NLT)
Don’t forget those last five words: enter the Kingdom of God! That’s the true home of those who live in Christ, who refuse the low standards of those going nowhere. Is it because they earn more favor with God? Heaven forbid that we think that. It is because their lives are lived in a way that maximizes God’s ability to work in them, through them, and to lead them to peace and perseverance.
Find a band of eagles. Let them teach you to soar higher than you thought you could. Let their commitment to authentic Christian living be a model for you. And, enter the Kingdom of God, which is the destiny God purposed for you before time began.
__________
I’m pressing on the upward way,
New heights I’m gaining every day;
Still praying as I’m onward bound,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Lord, lift me up and let me stand,
By faith on Heaven’s table land.
A higher plane than I have found.
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground!”
I want to scale the utmost height
And catch a gleam of glory bright;
But still I’ll pray till heav’n I’ve found,
“Lord, plant my feet on higher ground.”
Johnson Oatman – public domain
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