Chicken or Eagle?

I was recently challenged by someone who said I should be grateful for what I had. It wasn't that I was grumbling about what I had. I was simply discontent with the circumstances surrounding what I had. To me, the challenge was silly. A spout-off from someone who didn't know what they were talking about. Someone who didn't have all the facts. But since then, I've pondered the challenge and wondered if perhaps, there isn't something there.

This morning I was reading a "devotional" by Francis de Sales on "devotion" and after taking a brief inventory, I found a dearth of devotion. Dictionary.com lists the synonyms for devotion as love, ardor, and zeal. St. Francis de Sales explains that devotion is "true love of God", that devotion is "simply that spiritual agility by which charity works in us or by aid of which we work quickly and lovingly." Now don't get me wrong, I love God. But I'm not quite sure how agile I am in charitable works. To make it easier to understand, he compares people to birds: ostriches (sinners who never fly), chickens, (people struggling to do good but without true devotion) and eagles (devoted Christians who soar). So, in other words, devotion is loving God so completely that it transforms my life from one who struggles to do good works and perhaps grumbles about it to one who soars through life on wings of love, face towards God, good works simply falling in my trail.

The author says that the world sees the devout as "having discontented, gloomy, sullen faces and claims that devotion brings on depression and unbearable moods." And although I at first disagreed with him, the more I thought about my own devotion, I realized many would say (and have said) that about my example! In his view, I'm a chicken! And if the world only ever knows "birds" from the testimony of a chicken, they'd have a pretty skewed view of a bird! I guess if the world sees the devout as chickens, I'm actually part of the problem!

Without thought, I would tell you I'm a devoted follower of Christ. Yet something is wrong if unbelievers look at my life and see a chicken. They say, "Look at the chicken!" and I say, "That's not a chicken! That's an eagle!" Wow... who looks stupid then?

I confess that I have been undisciplined, wallowing in the dust of the fenced-in chicken yard, my head down, fighting over scraps of worms and bits of dried corn. And with all that dust it's hard to look up and see the eagles and the sky where I belong. I need to get up out of that yard; get above the din and dust- but how?

Jonathan Edwards writes in Religious Affections that

The nature of human beings is to be inactive unless influenced by some affection: love or hatred, desire, hope, fear, etc. These affections are the 'spring of actions', the things that set us moving in our lives, that move us to engage in activities.

These affections stimulate our zeal, or our "tireless, enthusiastic devotion" towards a cause. In other words, without stimulation from affections, we won't have devotion. I need to find my affections and use them as a spring board towards devotion.

I believe that the wear and tear on the soul by life causes our affections to dim. And certainly focusing on our disappointments causes us to lose hope, causes us to fear. It's a tool of Satan to make sure we stay chickens. Without affections to spur us on, we will be "content" to squabble in the hen house. But in the Psalms we are taught over and over again to focus on our blessings, the promises of God fulfilled, the power of God, His protective hand. Every time the psalmist's soul is "down hearted", he remembers God's saving power and finds the affections he needs to spring into devotion.

And on the wings of devotion, he soars.

Psalm 42 (The Message)

A psalm of the sons of Korah

1-3 A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;
I want to drink God,
deep draughts of God.
I'm thirsty for God-alive.
I wonder, "Will I ever make it—
arrive and drink in God's presence?"
I'm on a diet of tears—
tears for breakfast, tears for supper.
All day long
people knock at my door,
Pestering,
"Where is this God of yours?"

4 These are the things I go over and over,
emptying out the pockets of my life.
I was always at the head of the worshiping crowd,
right out in front,
Leading them all,
eager to arrive and worship,
Shouting praises, singing thanksgiving—
celebrating, all of us, God's feast!

5 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.

6-8 When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse
everything I know of you,
From Jordan depths to Hermon heights,
including Mount Mizar.
Chaos calls to chaos,
to the tune of whitewater rapids.
Your breaking surf, your thundering breakers
crash and crush me.
Then God promises to love me all day,
sing songs all through the night!
My life is God's prayer.

9-10 Sometimes I ask God, my rock-solid God,
"Why did you let me down?
Why am I walking around in tears,
harassed by enemies?"
They're out for the kill, these
tormentors with their obscenities,
Taunting day after day,
"Where is this God of yours?"

11 Why are you down in the dumps, dear soul?
Why are you crying the blues?
Fix my eyes on God—
soon I'll be praising again.
He puts a smile on my face.
He's my God.

If You Love Me

Scenario: One is busy doing what one does (working, playing, fishing, living...) and Jesus appears out of nowhere and cooks you breakfast. And then he asks you, not once, not twice, but three times, "Do you love me?"

I have pondered the verses of John 21:15-17 many times in my life. I've wondered what it must have felt like to have Jesus question you as to your love for him. Jesus knows everything! So He obviously didn't ask because he didn't know. There must be another reason he asked. Some people say he had to ask to make Peter say it out loud three times to nullify the three denials. I don't buy that. Sure, there's an obvious pattern there- three declarations of love to cancel out three denials. But it seems slightly legalistic to me. And besides, simply saying that you love someone never convinces them! It takes something more. Maybe the person who needed convincing wasn't Jesus, but Peter. Maybe Jesus asked him three times to make Peter assess his love for him. We don't know why Jesus asked him but we do know it hurt him that Jesus had to ask, it says so in verse 17. And know I would be hurt as well.

I would hope that Jesus could take one look at my life and see that I loved him. But you know, sometimes (maybe most times!) I believe that I'm out fishing, just like Peter had been. And no one at all can tell that I love him.

Jesus had appeared to the disciples on two other occasions before this scene since his death and resurrection. And it would appear that although the miracle has happened, it hasn't really had much effect on their lives. Peter's hanging out with his buds and says, "I'm done here, y'all. I'm going fishing." There are no stories of great miracles or overt demonstrations of love for Christ since he's appeared to them. Life has a rather stagnant feel to it.

Contrast this with Acts chapter 9. This is a different Peter we're seeing now. He's traveling all over the country, visiting the saints. He heals a paralytic named Aeneas and raises Dorcas from the dead. This is a man who is out and about the things of Christ. There would be no doubt in ones mind that Peter loved Jesus. Why? Because he's doing what Jesus asked him to do: taking care of His sheep.

In John 14:21, Jesus says that that's how he'll know if we love him- if we are obeying his commands. And his commands to us are very much like his command to Peter to take care of his sheep. We are to become holy like He is holy. (Three times in the book of Leviticus, God commands this: Lev. 11:44-45, 19:2 & 20:7) We are to love one another as He has loved us (John 15:12). We study the character of God and pursue Him. We learn to have a heart of compassion like His and we act on it. We learn in Psalm 72 that God has a heart for the poor and the needy; we see the Proverbs 31 woman must love Him, for she has that same heart (Proverbs 31:20). We learn by example and spur each other on to do the same (Hebrews 10:24)

And maybe then, He won't have to ask.