In a certain farmyard there was a pond, and around the pond were scattered a number of ducks. They were pleasantly tame, and they appeared, if you can say this of ducks, reasonably content in their small world. They had their own routines and a well known, and strictly enforced, pecking order during the day around the pond and within the shed at night. Life for the ducks was uneventful – nothing much happened and they didn’t much care.
But towards the middle of autumn, something did happen. They saw, high above them, a flight of wild ducks, migrating in formation towards their winter home. First one, then another and another, looked up when they heard the call overhead. Something deep inside them was stirred, and a few began to flap their wings as if to join their wild cousins. But alas, although the faint glow of desire remained, their bodies were heavy and their wings weak. They could only stare foolishly as any thought of freedom disappeared into the gorgeous sunset.
Hmm.
Might this be a parable?
If it is, where would you locate the faith once delivered to the saints, first by the Lord Jesus Himself, then by His chosen apostles and countless other humble and suffering witnesses and martyrs down through the ages? Is the church that shed next to the pond, or is it concealed to earthly eyes in the fiery sunset? Are the saints scratching patiently in the mud, or do you see them on the wing against the endless sky?
Our calling must not be domesticated, watered down into harmless platitudes. We possess a radical doctrine. God stepped into our dark and miserable world and we murdered Him. He is coming back with an army. His elect are clothed in perfect righteousness before Him and equipped with awesome power. They are divorced from the world. They have their orders from Heaven. They are His servants, called to risk all in enemy territory until He comes.
It is wonderful, grand, beautiful, glorious, and definitely wild.
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…” (Ephesians 4:1)
“Worthy of the calling”.
What a humbling reminder: first, to be called not out of the Caller’s need but for the benefit of our own; second, to be chosen not because of what I can offer Him but what He has already offered through grace; third, to be sanctified and set apart not for a temporal, ordinary purpose but an eternal and glorious one; fourth, to then live in such a way that is worthy of that.
“It is wonderful, grand, beautiful, glorious, and definitely wild.”
Hallelujah.
As wild ducks. Thank you for the reminder, dear brother.