Six Steps To the Lord

The “Fable of the Birds” is a story about creation. All the newly-made animals are walking around discovering what it is like to be alive. All except the birds! They are doing nothing but complaining because God has given them a heavy burden that he’d given no other animal: those awkward appendages on their shoulders. God must be punishing them somehow. Why did they have to carry these things around, making it hard to walk? “Why?” they asked. “Why us?” Finally, two or three of the more adventurous birds began to move their appendages. They began to flutter them, and soon they discovered that the very thing they had regarded as a burden actually made it possible for them to fly. And no other animals could fly. The “heavy burden” turned out to be a beautiful gift.

Many of us act like those ungrateful birds. We regard God’s call to obedience as an awkward appendage to our lives — weighing us down. Thou shalt not!…