Reaching for the Most – The Parable of the Hawk.
The steady wing stroke and the straight-line flight of the red-tailed hawk indicated he was on a mission. As he passed in front of me, he began to rise quickly. He briefly stopped the rise, altered direction a little bit, and continued. Then the hawk entered into a slow curve. After a couple circles those wings picked up that same steady rhythm for several seconds before entering into several more circles. He found the center of the uplift. I could tell because all wing flapping stopped.
The rest of the upward spiral was with fixed and outstretched wings. His position shifted to the West a little bit but the spirals continued. He was well over 500 feet in altitude in a matter of minutes. After a few more minutes he was a speck in the sky. In ten minutes, I could no longer see him.
How do we reach God like this hawk reached the heights? God is unfathomable – too deep to understand and too high to reach. There is no man-based effort that can successfully mount up to God. We need a radical change, something outside of us to know the Righteous God.
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is that way to God. Jesus succinctly stated, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). But we have an important part, like the first part of the flight of the hawk. We must want Him above all else. That hawk knew what he wanted – he wanted that thermal. He put aside any other direction, like hunting for food on earth or observing from a perch. Instead, he turned and put full effort to leave all else behind and head for the thermal. For us, that turn is repentance or turning away from anything contrary to God. As we turn our hearts to Him. Then we position ourselves to be in the center of His will, prepared to obey Him in any circumstance. Like the hawk stretching his wings and circling in the thermal, our response is to open our hearts wide and stay in a state of abiding in Christ. As we stay in that posture, He brings life and peace, walking with us as we rise in our God-centered life. (Luke 14:33 says, “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple“; John 14:21 says, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Heights for the soul are achievable in a walk with God. He has provided a way of life in Him. It does things in us, makes us like Him, and we begin to do the things that He would do. We love others, share the good news of the Kingdom, and participate with God in becoming fruitful. Whether the circumstances are contrary or not, we rise with Him until our time here is done. Then, we will be face to face with Almighty.
Would you choose God to be your Lord rather than anything else? It is worth everything. He gives peace to the distressed soul and provides a life in fellowship with Him, regardless of our vocation, age, culture, or background.
AMEN!!!!!!