Father, there are times where you use us, and we stand in amazement. Why there? Why then? Why me? It brings comfort to me knowing that regardless of what goes on in the world, that you are Sovereign of all!
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I wrote about buzzards less than a week ago (Stay Alert!…) but as I drove my route this morning, I saw a familiar sight…several turkey vultures sitting in the branches of a dead tree.
Some info about turkey vultures: According to Wikipedia they forage by smell. Most birds do not. By flying low to the ground, they can pick up the scent of ethyl mercaptan, a gas produced by the beginnings of decay in dead animals. The part of their brain the processes smells is particularly large compared to that of other animals. To survive they seek out death.
Where black vultures will kill to eat, almost exclusively, turkey vultures eat what is already dead. They are attracted to death. The reason this came to mind is that even in roosting, they are attracted to death. Dead trees are one of their favorite roosting spots. I see them quite often.
It’s morbid but God made them for a specific purpose. Like other vultures, they play an important role in the ecosystem by disposing of carrion, which would otherwise be a breeding ground for disease.
Humanity, on the other hand, was created for life. But much to our shame, we too are attracted to death. James 1:14-15 tells us,
But each one is tempted when he is dragged away, enticed and baited [to commit sin] by his own [worldly] desire (lust, passion). Then when the illicit desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin has run its course, it gives birth to death. AMP
Oh, we try to tell ourselves that we are just doing what we want to do. It is easy for us to only think of the immediate pleasure fulfilling our desires bring us. Much to our detriment, we don’t think far enough down the chain of events to realize that death is what awaits us. Yet too often we feel that to survive we must seek out that which brings us the greatest satisfaction, so in the long run to survive, we seek out death.
Turkey vultures are just doing what God created them to do. We, on the other hand, are going against that which God created us.
But we are not doomed. We’ve been given a choice. We make it difficult because we think we are giving up so much, but if we think it all the way through, we can realize that when we give up our choice of death, we truly receive an inestimable free gift!
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God [that is, His remarkable, overwhelming gift of grace to believers] is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 AMP
For those of us who have accepted this free gift, it is mind-numbing to think that others would refuse it, knowing what is truly at stake. But even we struggle and yield to those [worldly] desires. But we, as well as those who reject God’s gift are repeatedly given this option.
If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just [true to His own nature and promises], and will forgive our sins and cleanse us continually from all unrighteousness [our wrongdoing, everything not in conformity with His will and purpose]. 1 John 1:9 AMP
Lord Jesus, may we think it all the way through so much so that we wouldn’t think of rejecting the free gift so readily offered! Amen.
Apr 6th, 2021, Tues, 6:20 pm
