Fly

As Jesus went on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax booth. “Follow me,” He said to him. And he got up and followed Him. As Jesus was having a meal in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with Jesus and His disciples. When the Pharisees saw this they said to His disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this He said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a physician, but those who are sick do. Go and learn what this saying means: ‘ I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9-13 NET

The other day, we were hanging out on the back lawn and suddenly a tiny bird, half flew half fell out of one of the tall cedar trees .... the family has a nest deep in the middle of the hedging. 

Then the tiny bird proceeded to hop right over to us, inches away, nose to beak and had a bit of a talk about his misadventure. After a few moments he hopped over to the base of the tree and a mature bird, with the attitude of a concerned parent, came to encourage and protect it as the wee thing attempted to get back into the safety of the nest. 

Jesus allowed us in that quiet Sunday afternoon moment, to see the parable. Like the bird, each of us will fly, tumble, try again, soar, trip, fly higher. Yet we are encouraged and watched over by our loving God, our Father who art in Heaven.

{tweetme}And because of His love for each one of us, Jesus reaches into our mess and draws us out of it. {/tweetme}

And He gives us the freedom to choose which direction to fly. Jesus did not endure the cross so that we would fly backward into the captivity of our past. Therefore it is our urgent responsibility to turn to Him—and reach for Him—with all we have.

Because of all Christ has already done for us, we do not live in darkness—unless we choose to. The stone from Jesus’ tomb, and ours, has been rolled away. 

Hallelujah!  In Jesus Christ, we do have ultimate freedom.

Holy Spirit directs our gaze towards the horizon, we were never made to look backward; we are designed to look forward. You cannot trip over what is behind you—unless you run back to it. Simply stated, we become what we behold. If we want a free life in Jesus, keep focusing on Him.