The Tortoise and the Birds

Philippians 2:3-11

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,

I once heard a funny story that I thought I’d share with you: There once was a bright green tortoise that had a big dream: to travel the world. He had always dreamed of seeing the world, smelling the different smells, meeting new creatures…. It was his grandest dream. For many days he wondered if there was a way he could accomplish his dream. One day, as he watched a large group of birds flying through the air, an idea came to his mind. Clearing his throat, he began to call the birds. Finally, two curious birds flew down to see what the tortoise wanted. The tortoise explained that he wanted to travel the world and see new sights, hear new sounds, but he was too slow to do so. He politely asked the two birds if they would be willing to help him. He explained that perhaps the two birds could hold a stick between their beaks, and he would hold on to the stick with his mouth, while the birds flew around the world. It was a clever idea indeed, and the birds, wanting to help the tortoise, agreed. Minutes later, the tortoise was up in the air with the birds, his life-long dream finally being fulfilled. I’m such a smart little tortoise, he thought to himself. Who would have thought of such an idea? As he peered down below him, he saw some humans talking amongst themselves, “Wow! Look at that! Those birds must be mighty smart to have come up with such an idea!” Anger began to boil up inside the tortoise. The other human added, “I guess I really underestimate the intelligence of birds!” That did it. The tortoise could not handle it any more. He had to put these silly humans in place. Yelling out he screamed, “Hey! You… AGGHHHH!!!” As soon as those first words left his mouth, the tortoise had unwillingly let go of the stick he was holding on to, and fell down to the ground far below.

          There’s this small five letter word that gets many of us into trouble: pride. We all struggle with it, and it’s a cause of much trouble today. The wisest man once said, “Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.” Proverbs 16:18 Many arguments start because we do not want to admit that we’re wrong. Many fights start because both sides do not want to show their weakness. People fight over power and position, because of pride. That’s how the world does things, always defending self, always thinking better of self than of others, but that’s not God’s way. Jesus lived a life of self-denial and humility. He once said in Matthew 8:20 “And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”” You see, if Jesus, the King, God Himself, was able to live outside, sleep on the grass, surely we can be humble too. Humility is God’s way, and I am sure it would save us from a lot of trouble.

\Picture Story: Once again, I found this picture on the internet, but I chose this Indian and Greek fable because it has a powerful moral to it.

Perfect Reflection

2 Corinthians 3:18

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

The moon is a beautiful sight to behold indeed! Sometimes when it’s late, and I get a chance to look out the window, my eyes are always drawn to the brightly shining moon in the night sky. It’s bright light always give a warm, soft feeling inside. But the moon can only shine because it reflects the light from the sun.  Without the constant, glistening sun, the moon would be as dark as the midnight sky; barely visible. Only through the sun’s rays, the moon is able to be illuminated by a brilliant glow that points to the still brighter brightness of the sun. In the same way, we are to perfectly reflect the image and character of Christ. In this world darkened by sin, we may not be able to replace Christ when He was on earth, but we can be a beautiful reflection of Him. When we allow Christ to be reflected through our lives, we point people to the living Creator. We may not always get a chance to speak to people of God’s love, but we can most definitely live our lives representing Him. And when we do so, we are silently pointing to Christ. Sometimes that’s all it takes; a perfect reflection.

Picture Story: Once again, this is not my picture (as you can see from the bottom left corner,) but this is a beautiful picture of a solar eclipse; the time when the moon finally meets the Son.

What Goes in Must Come Out!

Luke 6:45

⁴⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

                           I once read a true story, and this a little how it went: Amanda* screamed as her kitchen burst into flames. She desperately tried to put the fire out, but it had become too large and was quickly spreading through her kitchen and to the rest of her home. What a mess I’ve created! Amanda said to herself. Not knowing what else to do, she ran to the phone and dialed 911. Beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. The fire department were on their way, but the flames began to spread rapidly. Finding herself trapped in the living room, she hoped they would find her soon. The minutes seemed like hours, when finally she was carried out by a firefighter. “You’re a fortunate young lady. With that kind of fire, you could have easily been killed.” Still, she had lost most of her home to the flames, and it would cost her a large sum of money to repair it all. But what had started such a fire? Amanda was reluctant to say at first, but finally admitted that she had read a story where they had used water, oil, alcohol, and toothpaste to make a magical, powerful potion and she had attempted to make the same potion.

            It seems quite silly that someone would actually do such a crazy thing, but it just shows us that what goes in must come out. The things we read, watch, listen to, all have an impact on our mind. Of course we may not go to the extreme that Amanda did, but the things we put in our minds WILL affect us in the long run. It may be in small, subtle ways, just like sin. Sin usually starts in the small things, but eventually grows into the things that we would have never even imagined doing before. In the same way whatever we put into our minds will show in the long run. If we are watching violent movies, it will eventually show when we are around people. If the music we listen to contains inappropriate language, we will end up speaking like the singer. But it goes the other way as well. If we read the bible, listen to pure music, we can be shaped more into the character of Christ. So fix your eyes upon Jesus, and be made into the same likeness!

Picture Story: This picture is NOT mine… I found it off Google… but I used it because I think it really shows the point.

~Victoria

*Name has been changed