If you put a buzzard in a 6-foot-by-8-foot pen that’s entirely open at the top, the bird, despite its ability to fly, will be an absolute prisoner. Why? A buzzard always begins flight with a run of 10 to 12 feet. Without this runway, it will not even attempt to fly—but will remain a prisoner for life, waddling around in a small jail with an open top. Another animal that will not persist in trying to fly is the common bat. It is a remarkably nimble night creature in the air, but it cannot take off from a level place. If it’s placed on flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about, helplessly and painfully, until it reaches some slanted ground from which to launch itself. On the other hand, a common little insect teaches us a great deal about effort. The bumblebee, if dropped into an open glass tumbler, will stay there until it dies. It never sees the means of escape at the top but persists in trying to find some way out through near the bottom. It will continue to seek until it completely destroys itself through exhaustion. Jesus tells a story of persistence. He spoke of a friend coming at midnight who was hungry. So this man went to his neighbor to ask for three loaves of bread so he could feed his friend. The neighbor did not want to be bothered. It was late, and he was already in bed! But notice, “I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs” (Luke 11:8). Christ teaches us that we need to be more like a bumblebee than a bat or buzzard. When we pray to the Lord we are much too quick to give up. “What’s the use,” we think, “It doesn’t matter.” But Jesus tells us that when it comes to prayer, persistence matters! Instead of ending up in the bottom of a jar, we will find a way out—and the direction of escape is above! And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; - Luke 18:1
Posted on: Thu, 18 Jul 2013 11:54:21 +0000
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