Parables of the Eagle

Created to Seek
    Through all the Father created, I heard the call to seek Him. From the magnificence of the snow-covered mountains to the effortless flight of the eagle, I heard Him proclaim, “I am”. From the vast expanse of our great universe to the simple beauty of a tiny flower, I heard Him reveal, “for you”. From the miracle of a newborn baby to the marvelous working of the human body, I heard Him whisper, “come”.
    Sitting and watching God's creation, I was in awe. Observing the effortless flight of the eagle, I realized his keen eyesight and how focused his life was. I looked at my own life and found more distractions than focus. Living in a world of jobs and families and pleasures and comfort deluded by focus. Dealing with struggles and stress and pain and heartache confused my focus. The eagle looked ahead, keeping his focused on what was important.
    As he landed, it was as if he was telling me, this is your focus, the cross. Seeking the Savior through the keen eyes of faith and focusing on what He gave me upon the cross. As the eagle rescues his young, the Father has rescued me and lifted me up on His powerful wings. Seeking Him through eyes of faith by being focused on His life, His death, and my need for Him to live through me.
    The keen eye of the eagle allows him to see how the Father takes care of him, providing him with food as the eagle swoops down to pluck it out of the water or field. It opens my eyes to the care the Father has for me in all the blessings He provides. My physical needs are taken care of, spiritual needs are met, and the eternal love is graciously supplied by a giving Father.
    Still watching, I notice when the eagle is attached, he flies toward the sun. In my own journey, when the tempter attacks my life, I also need to focus my flight toward the Son. To seek His power and wisdom in defusing the fiery darts Satan continues to hurl at me.

Created to Serve
    Watching the eagle bring food and serve it to his family shows me how I should also respond to my family. Not only sharing with my physical family, but also God's family and all His creation. To feed them through the teaching of the words of life, through encouragement, and caring for their needs. To be His hands and feet, reaching out to let Him work through me, in sharing His love, His hope, and His good news with everyone around me. Providing needed fellowship, care, and love, as the Savior did as He walked among us.
    Watching how the eagle provides an uplift of air to help the young ones learning to fly, I need to do the same with those who are young in the faith. To provide them with an uplift of encouragement, strength, and love so they can learn to fly on their own. To also help those along life's journey, who are struggling with sickness, doubt, and fears, lifting them to the Father. Presenting them in prayer to the only One who has the power to not only heal their bodies, but their hearts, and their souls. Those who do not know the Father, who don't even know they can fly, to share with them His message of hope. Being shackled in chains by their own sin, showing them through the gift of the Father, they can now be set free to soar. To help them spread the wings the Father has given them, to learn how to manage the turbulence faced in their flight, and then soar on the winds of the Spirit.

Created to Soar
    As I watch this great bird soaring through the skies, I marveled at this example, this masterpiece created by the Father. It made me think of my own relationship with my God and why I was put here on this earth? The eagle is magnificent, yet my Father tells me His greatest masterpiece of all is me. My Father created me as the centerpiece of His great creation, loved above everything else He made. It made me feel good, yet left me with a responsibility inside my soul to live up to a Father's expectations. Created in His image, awakened with the breath of life, and immortalized with an eternal soul, I realized the Father had created me to soar.
    Yet the eagle didn't soar on some creation of his own, but wings provided by the Creator. Thus my life would not soar by my own efforts, but by the Father working through my life for His purpose. He also knew I would not always soar, but often be grounded by my failure to utilize His power. Through each failure His grace was there, through every fall His love was there, and through all my doubts He would never turned away. Learning to soar, I must learn to trust Him.
    Able to fly against the elements, the eagle is provided powerful wings by the hand of the Creator. In my life He also provides the power to rise above any situation, if I will trust Him. Gliding high above the world, the eagle is lifted by the wind. I am also given a chance to rise above the world through His Spirit, providing me with what I need.

Thank you Father for the magnificent eagle you created for me to marvel and learn from. Give me the vision of the eagle that I may see you and seek your will in my life each day. Give me the tender heart of the eagle in serving your creation with love and compassion. Give me the wings of the eagle in soaring above trials, temptations, and the influences of this world. Oh Father, help me each day to see you have created me to seek, created me to serve, and created me to soar. 

                                                                                                copyright Jim Ness