Wow, it's great!

Last Sunday I learned more about the eagle and how it relates to our life in Christ. Let me just tell you!

Choosing a place for the nest. The american bald eagle looks for a tree near a river, lake or water of some sort. It also needs to be near to a cliff or a rock that's wet and has a oily kind of wetness. Where there is water there is life so that makes total sense... but why be near a wet cliff or a rock? When the eagle is fully grown and is getting older it's feathers become dry and "crisp". The eagle uses it to refresh itself when it feels tired and weary. It brushes up against the rock and softens it's feathers and gathers strength. Jesus is our Rock. We can always return to the cliff where we find rest and are built up again - also when we feel like giving up and we are just ready to leave this place and go to our Father. Jesus gives us living water. The Holy Spirit will renew us and keep working in us as long as we turn to the Rock.

When building the nest the eagle first uses thick, strong branches. The nest can hold two grown eagles very easily. The nest is then covered with WHITE bark, not just bark from the next tree. People have been trying to find an explanation to this. The indians think it is because that makes the nest easy to see. If a storm comes in or it gets dark the eagle can easily find it's nest because it's white. Jesus' blood has washed away our sins and cleansed us so that we are whiter than snow, He is our Salvation. No matter what happens in life, how often we fail or how hard things get nothing can take that away or cover it. When everything else seems dark we can look to Him because Jesus is our Saviour- He is the "white" in our life.

The final touch to the nest is covering the inside with mink fur. The american bald eagle hunts for mink, flaws off the skin and uses it for the nest. God sure is not stingy! ;) He wants to bless our lives with His gifts too. I'm not saying we can just pray and then we become rich or something. God's gifts are of so many different kinds, not just material.

When the female is lying on the eggs the male is right there brushing his beek agains her neck letting her feel that he's near - that he'll protect her. We may not always feel it, but God is always right by our side. He never leaves us!

When the little eagle chicks come out of the eggs they are more mouth than body. All they do is scream for food. The young in faith are just like the chicks. They keep wanting more, need to know more. We as a church need to nurture the young, sharing the Word of God, building each other up in faith so that the big open mouths can turn into other grown eagles - grown Christians.

The eagle's talons are very sharp and can rip open a prey when they grabb it. With the same talons the eagle grabbs the little chick that's falling from the nest and carefully brings it back. Our toungue can be like the eagle's talons - both destructive and loving. We are often so busy ripping others apart when we should be building each other up.

Ok, wow! This was a really long post. Hope someone has the endurance to read thorugh it all!