The early morning’s sun glistened across the waters smooth untouched surface as a nearby duck waddled her way to the edge. Her six ducklings trailed behind her as they swiftly glided into the pond.
I could not help but smile as they quacked and peeped back and forth between each other. The attentive male (who was keeping watch on a near by log), soon joined them as they moved their way to and fro, searching for small bits of food.
I repositioned myself on the cold rock where I was perched and continued reading in my book.
Listening to their little quacks and water splashes was so amusing to my ears that I kept finding myself zoning out and not paying attention to what I was reading.
Every now and then the male would raise his head and voice in alarm and then every one would quickly climb atop a near by floating tree. Then, he would give the ‘ok’ and everyone would plop back into the water again and go merrily on there way.
I recalled watching the wood ducks a few days ago and learning on how attentive they are. I remembered how the mother duck communicates to the un-hatched ducklings while they are still in the egg.
I also remembered reading how various studies have been conducted in which the mother wood duck is taken away from the un-hatched eggs so the ducklings do not hear her voice. The result is that the ducklings are not obedient to their mother after they hatch.
I gazed back at the little family of ducks as yet once again, the father sounded the alarm and they quickly climbed out of the water. All but one little duckling that is, each time they got out of the water there was one who seemed to get slower and slower each time. This time he slowly paddled his way over to the log as his parents got louder and louder in their alarms and reproaches. Just as he reached the edge of the log and began to hop aboard SPLOOSH! He was gone! A predator (that was unseen by my ‘land eye‘) had come up from underneath the water’s edge and gobbled him up! The parents continued to quack and squawk for quite some time as my jaw hung there open in disbelief.
A few moments passed and things settled down as the pond returned to its usual busyness.
Its amazed me how obedience to parents can be a matter of life and death for the duck. As I got to thinking I realized that the same is true of our relationship with God. If wood ducklings fail to listen to the voices of their parents, they will be destroyed. If we fail to listen to the voice of God we will experience destruction.
Obedience is often defined as receiving instruction, correction, provision, and protection.
Obedience is also wise submission to the will of those whom God has placed over us. True obedience is an attitude more than an action. It does not involve carrying out commands that would require us to violate the higher law of God.
Obedience is based on the motivation that God works through structures of authority and that every person must give an account to God for every decision.
This made me ponder just exactly how obedient I am in my every day walk. If I am not careful to listen and obey, I very well know that something unseen may snatch me out of the water as well.
Talk about a great mental picture to keep me motivated to be obedient in all things! =)
No comments:
Post a Comment