Seek To Fly Higher with the Lord 

Last week I was driving along the highway when I witnessed the vehicle approaching me in the oncoming lane strike a bird as it attempted to fly across the road. When I looked in my rearview mirror, I could see the creature laying on the pavement, either stunned or dead. It appeared to be the same kind of bird I had seen on previous occasions exhibit the same kind of low-flying, daredevilish behavior. It was one of those beautiful red cardinals. I have often noticed this particular species’ propensity to fly low to the ground. In some areas, it isn’t a problem. However, when it is crossing a busy highway, this practice can tend to have fatal results. I think I have even hit one or two of them myself over the years.

I sadly thought, “If only those birds would fly a few feet higher they would avoid the danger.” It wouldn’t take much. They wouldn’t have to soar high in the sky as I saw a hawk majestically doing over our church property recently. If they would just aim a little higher, they could survive their encounter with the cars and trucks speeding down the road.

The same could be said for some of us who are seeking to follow Jesus. We tend to fly too low, putting ourselves in danger while missing out on the blessings of a higher experience. In some cases, it may be people who are having a hard time separating themselves from the ungodly aspects of the world. They choose to fly low – to stay as close to this world and its temporary pleasures as they can while still trying to follow the Lord at the same time. If they keep going that way, allowing the world to have such a strong downward pull on them, they are very likely to crash.

However, for others of us, it may not be the attraction to the world that is holding us down but simply the lack of understanding or lack of faith that a higher flight is possible. We have surrendered to the idea that we have no choice but to fly low as believers. We emphasize the fact that we are only human and have all these sinful tendencies. We submit to the non-biblical notion that sinning has to be a constant part of our lives weighing us down. We think we can’t rise above it, so all we can do is fly low while depending on God’s forgiveness for our inability to go any higher. We have been taught, or have otherwise concluded, that God’s commands about being holy, having a pure heart, loving Him with all our hearts, loving our enemies, being Christlike, and various other directives that lift up a high standard are unattainable in this life.  

Some of us need to recognize that God calls us to fly higher than that. We need to have greater faith in what God can do in our lives. We need to believe His word when it calls us to a higher experience. It isn’t just talking about how God perceives us due to what Jesus did for us on the cross, as wonderful as that is. But it is also referring to the real changes He can actually make in our hearts and our behavior so that we can be the godly people He calls us to be. That also comes only through Christ, not through our efforts. However, it is a real change that gives us greater victory over sin and enables us to live more consistently in line with God’s will for us.

Don’t settle for a lower and more precarious existence. Trust Jesus to help you fly higher and to become more like Him.