Pastor and author Peter Lord used to tell a parable that went like this: A little baby eagle fell out of his nest into a pile of leaves below. Scratching about nearby was a flock of wild turkeys. They were pleasant and accepting, so the little eagle took up residence with them. Soon he became hungry. Although eagles were not born to eat acorns, he was hungry enough to eat anything, so he began to eat acorns with the turkeys. Before long, the eagle had learned to eat like a turkey, scratch like a turkey, strut like a turkey. The eagle had become "turkeyized". But all along he knew inside there was something lacking, something more.
One day the little eagle looked up and saw a huge eagle soaring in the sky. Something stirred within him. You can take the eagle out of the sky, but you can't take the sky out of the eagle, because when the eagle was born, the sky was put in him. As he watched, the head gobbler came up and said, "Don't look up there. You don't want to be one of them. You're one of us!" Discouraged, the eagle lowered his head and went his way, trying to be a good turkey. Later, he heard the wise owl call from above, "Whooo, whoo, who are you?" The eagle replied, "I'm just a frustrated turkey." "You're not a turkey at all," the owl answered, "You're an eagle. You were never created to scratch around in the darkness of the woods. You were made to soar in the heights above, but you've become like those around you. Just be what you were created to be. Be who you are!"
The little eagle was suffering from an identity crisis. Sadly so are many Christians today. When we are born again, we are in Christ, we are God's workmanship, we have become the very righteousness of God! (Ephesians 2:10, 2 Cor. 5:21) We will see this week that we have a tremendous inheritance as His child. But if we don't know this, we will listen to the world around us and before long, we will be "turkeyized" - living and acting like the world rather than the new creations we are. Let's be excited about who we are in Christ, not because of us or our merit, but because of the grace of God and Christ's work for us on the cross!
Becky
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