It was quite an adventuresome evening, Father, as we drove through a fair amount of heavy rain. Thank You for the safety You provided getting us to our destination and back again. Thank You, too, for the blessings of family!

John 7:10-24 (<<click here to read the passage)

English actor, Michael Caine, allegedly coined the phrase, “Be like a duck. Calm on the surface, but always paddling like the dickens underneath.” I could find nothing to contradict it, so it stands. It is supposed to convey the idea, as it says, to remain unruffled in what people see but to continue to work like crazy beneath the surface to accomplish your goals.

It’s interesting what one can find while poking around on Google. Looking up the aforementioned phrase, I came across a noteworthy article in a blog from an organization, based in southeast Asia, that helps prospective students get into Ivy League colleges across the globe. They posted an article entitled The Duck of Stanford – Struggling for Success.

In it, the author talked about the phrase but instead of focusing on the struggle of paddling beneath the calmness, they emphasized what the duck was designed for. They said,

Consider this:

    • The duck is in its own habitat.
    • It was born to paddle.
    • The duck is afloat, not through any struggle, but because it was made to stay afloat.
    • The duck paddles, because that’s how it goes places.

In the end, the paddling duck is not the struggling duck. The duck was designed for paddling, and thus, it is not a struggle for the duck.

At this point in John’s Gospel, in all reality, Jesus is in the heat of battle. The religious hierarchy is well along the path of seeking His death. All because He spoke the truth for God Himself and in the process exposed their hypocrisy and shallow religiosity.

In the last verse of this particular passage, Jesus says, “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” v24

He was saying don’t be sidetracked by what looks like the frantic paddling of a duck but see the duck for what the duck is. It isn’t struggling, it is simply doing what God created him to be – a duck! And paddling is what ducks do!

As followers of Jesus, follow His example and do what you’re supposed to do…be a follower! See the truth for what it is. Don’t be hooked into believing that hypocrisy and shallow religiosity is your goal. When I say, see the truth for what it is, I would be better in saying, see the Truth for who He is!

God created us in His image (Genesis 1:27). We were designed to be like Him! When we serve ourselves and go after what our flesh – our sinful selves – lust after, we go against our own design! Make it your goal to live out your life to be like Jesus more and more each day. Amen – so be it!

June 10th, 2021, Thurs, 10:15 pm