Ephesians 1:18-21 (NIV)
18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of
his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great
power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength 20 he
exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in
the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion,
and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one
to come.
The albatross is an amazing bird. With a wingspan of 3
meters (9.6 feet), they are amongst the largest birds that soar the Heavens.
And soar they do. You see, with wings that big, they
can't actually "fly". They rely on gusts of air to keep them off the
ground, but once airborne, they can swoop along at speeds of 115 kph (70 mph).
Because of this, the next time you decide to visit an albatross sanctuary, make
sure you go on a windy day. Though it's pure ecstasy for albatross in the air,
they are actually quite clumsy on the ground!
With such a wide wingspan, you would expect the albatross
to be absolutely huge. And don't get me wrong, they do have large bodies. But
in order for their wings to be able to lay along their backs, like those of
most birds, they would need bodies at least 1.5 meters (5 feet) long, which
would make them so heavy, they would have trouble staying airborne! So in order
to help them manage their extensive wingspan, yet still have manageable-sized
bodies, God created them with a unique feature: When on the ground, the outer
half of the albatross' wing actually folds up under the inner half! Amazing!
But as a result, when sitting on the ground, the albatross looks like nothing
more impressive than a large gull.
Unfortunately, there are few in this world who can just
"pop over and visit" an albatross sanctuary. The albatross is an
endangered bird. Of the 21 species of albatross known, only two are not
threatened with extinction. Your best bet for viewing these magnificent birds
are the in the southern oceans between Antarctica and the southern parts of
South America, Africa, and Australasia. Interestingly, these are areas of
consistent wind, and remember: Without wind, the albatross cannot fly!
If you ever visited the Royal Albatross Centre in Dunedin, New
Zealand, you would be delighted to see the numerous birds floating around
overhead. You would find out that not all the birds are albatross. You would
learn that the vast majority of the flying birds were ordinary gulls. You would
think it would be easy to see the difference in the birds when they were in the
air, after all, what gull has a wingspan of 5 feet? But in all honesty, when
you're just looking up at those little dots in the sky, it's pretty hard to
judge wingspan!
Unless you were fortunate enough to see a gull and an
albatross flying together, that is! Then the difference becomes obviously
apparent!
As a Christian, it's sometimes hard to see any advantage
in our lives over that of our non-Christian friends and co-workers. In fact, it
may often seem like the lives of our non-Christian contacts are less
restrictive and more fun than our own. In church we hear about "the riches
of His glorious inheritance in the saints" (Eph 1:18c). We read about the
"incomparably great power for us who believe" (Eph. 1:19a). We see
other Christians who obviously know "the hope to which He has called
[them]" (Eph 1:18b), but in all honesty, we don't see these fruit in our
own lives!
Could it be that we are like the albatross on a non-windy
day, grounded by our human natures? Could it be that we are not filled with
God's Spirit, that Heavenly "Wind"?
Remember, albatross are clumsy on the ground, but once
they are caught up by a gust of wind, they unfold their wings and soar into the
Heavens! The same is true for us! Once we experience the winds of God's Spirit,
once we submit to that breeze of His presence, our spiritual wings will unfold
and we will soar.
Dear Lord, help us not to keep our self-grounded but that
we would let the Holy Spirit fill us so that we can soar for You in all that we
do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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