He's up early, searching for his daily bread. It's about survival.
When I look at the picture above, I see much more than the sight of a beautiful seabird, one of God's creations, winging his way over the ocean as the dawn of the day begins. What I see is a picture of the fight for survival that life can often be. That majestic bird knows that he is on his own to find food to eat in the sea and that if his search turns up empty, he will go home hungry. With the number of calories required to fuel his flight, he also knows he can only come up empty a few times before he will perish. The laws of nature give him the motivation to do what he must and in nature, sometimes it can be brutal, but it is reality. But how can that situation also apply itself to we humans? What are our responsibilities to support ourselves and under what conditions? In a mixed-up world where so many today think they deserve everything they want, worthy or not, it is a good question.
We humans have been truly blessed by God. While we are like the seabird in the fact that we are also living beings created by God, we were given the dominion over the earth and all living things due to God's grace in giving us both a brain with the ability to reason and the ability to chart our course based upon free will. This choice can sometimes be seen as a curse if we don't follow the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit within us, for in such case we use our brainpower for things that are ungodly. That wouldn't be a problem if there was nothing competing with the Holy Spirit, but we know there is. The Evil One, Satan, The Devil, whatever you want to call him, is alive and well in the airwaves around earth and he has some special powers to let him know who is weak and how they are susceptible to his cunning and deception. When he finds someone like that who is willing to turn away from God due to his own desires and if the price is right, he sells his soul and problems erupt for mankind which impacts the way we think and live. Those who have sold their soul often formulate schemes that are designed to promote their power and their acquisition of riches and they can easily then see themselves being a replacement for God Himself. Their arrogance and self-indulgence is truly amazing, but not in a good way. They worship something or someone other than the One and Only God and follows with great impact. The easiest trick in their trade is to trick others into believing that they can provide for their wants and needs better than the individuals can for themselves. Those looking for any easy answer to life's problem often accept a system of rewards for those who accept those premises.
When someone is going through a rough patch in life, it is easy to fall prey to the easy answers if that person has no strong principles of free will self-reliance. If the person suffering would only turn to God and open his or her art, the means to end the problem would, with a little prayer and patience be provided by God but so often He isn't given the chance. Sadly, today we see so much evidence of that in modern societies where huge numbers of people rely on the state and their greedy politicians who control them. They keep them satisfied with "free stuff," or at least they call it free, including welfare checks, food assistance, medical care, and much more and those using free will properly pay the bill. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is never a time for personal assistance for those in need, but it was never supposed to take the place of self-reliance for life. No, it was meant to be a temporary fix in troubled times, but the powerful politicians realized it was their ticket to power and riches that come with a life commitment to maintain that standing.
Again, compare that to the seabird who is on his own to try to stay alive by his own abilities and cunning. He may not be able to reason, but he senses exactly what he needs to do and does it. And just watch the way animals raise their young. Using another bird as an example, a number of years ago, I watched a family of eagles as the eaglets developed and grew. Daddy Eagle over several days walked Junior out on the limb and Junior balked at trying to fly. By the end of those few days, Junior was soaring with his dad and just a short time later he was gone, off to make his own way in the world and hopefully start his own family. There are no twenty-something eagles returning to their birth home and the parents can, after much hard work, become "empty-nesters." I think we can learn something from what those beautiful creatures in the nature provided by God can teach us and, further, if we apply that knowledge with the guidance and understanding that God expects of us, we will understand what we need to do to meet His expectations. Only then can the bondage offered by those who seek their own glory be broken. If we want freedom as intended by God, it's something we must do. Have a blessed day.
We humans have been truly blessed by God. While we are like the seabird in the fact that we are also living beings created by God, we were given the dominion over the earth and all living things due to God's grace in giving us both a brain with the ability to reason and the ability to chart our course based upon free will. This choice can sometimes be seen as a curse if we don't follow the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit within us, for in such case we use our brainpower for things that are ungodly. That wouldn't be a problem if there was nothing competing with the Holy Spirit, but we know there is. The Evil One, Satan, The Devil, whatever you want to call him, is alive and well in the airwaves around earth and he has some special powers to let him know who is weak and how they are susceptible to his cunning and deception. When he finds someone like that who is willing to turn away from God due to his own desires and if the price is right, he sells his soul and problems erupt for mankind which impacts the way we think and live. Those who have sold their soul often formulate schemes that are designed to promote their power and their acquisition of riches and they can easily then see themselves being a replacement for God Himself. Their arrogance and self-indulgence is truly amazing, but not in a good way. They worship something or someone other than the One and Only God and follows with great impact. The easiest trick in their trade is to trick others into believing that they can provide for their wants and needs better than the individuals can for themselves. Those looking for any easy answer to life's problem often accept a system of rewards for those who accept those premises.
When someone is going through a rough patch in life, it is easy to fall prey to the easy answers if that person has no strong principles of free will self-reliance. If the person suffering would only turn to God and open his or her art, the means to end the problem would, with a little prayer and patience be provided by God but so often He isn't given the chance. Sadly, today we see so much evidence of that in modern societies where huge numbers of people rely on the state and their greedy politicians who control them. They keep them satisfied with "free stuff," or at least they call it free, including welfare checks, food assistance, medical care, and much more and those using free will properly pay the bill. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that there is never a time for personal assistance for those in need, but it was never supposed to take the place of self-reliance for life. No, it was meant to be a temporary fix in troubled times, but the powerful politicians realized it was their ticket to power and riches that come with a life commitment to maintain that standing.
Again, compare that to the seabird who is on his own to try to stay alive by his own abilities and cunning. He may not be able to reason, but he senses exactly what he needs to do and does it. And just watch the way animals raise their young. Using another bird as an example, a number of years ago, I watched a family of eagles as the eaglets developed and grew. Daddy Eagle over several days walked Junior out on the limb and Junior balked at trying to fly. By the end of those few days, Junior was soaring with his dad and just a short time later he was gone, off to make his own way in the world and hopefully start his own family. There are no twenty-something eagles returning to their birth home and the parents can, after much hard work, become "empty-nesters." I think we can learn something from what those beautiful creatures in the nature provided by God can teach us and, further, if we apply that knowledge with the guidance and understanding that God expects of us, we will understand what we need to do to meet His expectations. Only then can the bondage offered by those who seek their own glory be broken. If we want freedom as intended by God, it's something we must do. Have a blessed day.
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