Wings Like Eagles

Introduction:

A forest ranger is making rounds in a remote part of the wooded reserve when he comes across an unkempt man, sitting at a make-shift campfire, and, to the ranger's horror, eating a fish and a bald eagle. The man is consequently put in jail for the crime. He was soon brought to trial for his crime... The Judge asked the man "Do you know that eating a bald eagle is a federal offense?"

"Yes I do." replied the man, "but if you let me argue my case, I'll explain what happened."

"You may proceed."

"I got lost in the woods, and hadn't had anything real to eat for two weeks," the man

explained. "I was so hungry, I was eating plants to stay alive. Next thing I see is a Bald Eagle swooping down at the lake grabbing some fish. I thought 'if I startled the Eagle I could maybe steal the fish.' Low and behold, the eagle lighted upon a nearby tree stump to eat the fish. I threw a stone toward the eagle hoping he would drop the fish and fly away. Unfortunately, in my weakened condition, my aim was off, and the rock hit the eagle squarely on his poor little head, and killed it. I thought long and hard about what had happened, but figured that since I killed it I might as well eat it since it would be more disgraceful to let it rot on the ground."

The judge says he will take a recess to analyze the defendant's testimony. 15 minutes goes by and the judge returns: "Due to the extreme circumstance you were under and because you didn't intend to kill the eagle, the court will dismiss the charges."

The Judge then leans over the bench and whispers: "If you don't mind my asking, what does a bald eagle taste like?"

"Well your Honor, it is hard to explain. The best I can describe it's a bit more tender than a California Condor but lacks the tang of a Spotted Owl."

WBTU:

The preachers and teachers not long after the apostles died would try to make everything have a profound meaning. Anything and everything in the Scriptures had a deep meaning.

In these Proverbs, they gave them deep meanings. Nice applications but as far as the only applications, that is just not so. As for the serpent on a rock, they said it speaks of God’s victory over Satan. The way of a ship in the midst of the sea speaks of the mystery of God’s preservation of His people down through the centuries.

The way of a man with a maiden spoke of the mystery of Christ’s relationship with the Church. Again a good application but if we tie it in with vs. 20 I don’t think it is talking about Christ and his church.

I want to spend some time tonight talking about this first thing, the way of an eagle in the sky.

Thesis: We can learn a lot from nature. Four points on eagle

For instances:

An eagle has to be born an eagle.

Crows and canaries will never become eagles.

We can never become children of God unless God changes us in a profound way. This cannot be done naturally. It can only happen by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus called it the new birth. John 3:3-5: Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!” Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

Ezekiel 36:25-27: I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

1 Peter 1:23: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

Be born again. Born of a different Father.

The mother eagle will discipline her eaglets.

A mother eagle builds her nest on the face of a cliff. She puts it in a safe place for the birds to be nurtured. The eagle’s nest is make with great skill. It is very large, and it is constructed with branches that are intertwined to make it strong. When the branches are intertwined, then she lines it with feathers and grass to make it soft. Once the eggs have been laid and hatched it becomes the mother eagles seemingly endless task of going off on delivery missions where she has to feed the baby birds. She goes back and forth and back and forth and every time she returns she will perch on the edge of the nest and feed the eaglets, one by one.