Goad Kicking and Window Thumping

What a sight it was!
I heard it before I saw it.
A bird flying up from a bush and hitting itself against the window.

Over and over…bush…window…thump.
The little bird was going to hurt itself, if it hadn’t already.
Did it see its own reflection in the glass and think it was another bird?
Or was it trying to get into the house to get warm?
After all we did have frost on the ground…in April!

I stood there and watched…wishing I could help the little bird.

A story came to mind.
Paul Harvey, who was an American broadcaster told a modern day parable:

A farmer heard a thumping sound against his kitchen storm door one cold, wintry night.
He went to the window and watched as little sparrows beat against the glass.
They were trying to get out of the cold and into the warmth of the house.
The farmer put on his coat and trudged through the snow to open the barn door.
He turned on the lights and threw some hay in a corner.
The sparrows flew away in all directions when he came outside.
The man tried everything he could think of to get the birds into the barn.
He even left a trail of crackers thinking that might lure them inside.
Nothing worked.
He realized that he was this large, ominous creature that frightened them.
The birds had no idea that he was trying to help them.
The farmer went back into the house.
If only I could become a bird…become one of them…just for a moment.
Then I wouldn’t frighten them so much and I could show them the way to safety.
The farmer realized…that is what Jesus did for him!

If only…

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

God loves us that much.
We are the little bird.
Flinging ourselves against the glass…trying to get something intangible.
Something shiny…something attractive…something that is ultimately deadly.

God loves us that much.
He knows that we are flying into something that will ultimately destroy us.
He can reign us in by force…but we would be terrified.

He became one of us…so that we could understand.
He became one of us to lead us safely home.

Paul, before King Agrippa, told the story about meeting Jesus on the Damascus Road.

On one of these journeys I was going to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. About noon, O king, as I was on the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, blazing around me and my companions. We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice saying to me in Aramaic, ‘Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ Then I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,’ the Lord replied. (Acts 26:12-15)

A goad was a sharp instrument used to control oxen that are hitched to a plow.
The expression, kicking against the goads means…you are only hurting yourself.

That would be us!
God, the Father, all Sovereign, all Wise…had a plan to save us.
He would send His Son, a perfect, sinless God-man, who would lead us Home to safety.

Since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death, He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death…For this reason He had to be made like His brothers in every way, in order that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that He might make atonement for the sins of the people. (Hebrews 2:14,17)

No amount of luring and enticing will take us to heaven.
The enemy leaves a trail of crackers for us to follow, which only leads to destruction.
We needed Someone to become one of us.
Someone who knows the Way.
Someone to put our faith in…so we can follow Him back home.