Like a Chicken on a June Bug

Seventeen two day old chickens. That's what became the source of great amusement in my life over the last week or so.  I've had chickens before but never brand new, just hatched babies. Who knew how positively hilarious they could be! They are still at the age that they need a heat lamp, even though it's so hot outside that my skin tries to melt off when I walk out of the air conditioning. And as it turns out, horseflies love the heat lamp. They can't keep away from it. It draws them like, well, like a moth to a light. That saying could easily be changed to horseflies to lights. I also knew that chickens liked bugs, (chickens on a June bug, anybody?), but I really had no idea that two day old chicks could snag a horsefly in mid-flight. They can, and they are quite adept at it. Here's the part that has kept me amused for the last week. It becomes a soccer match. One chick catches the horsefly and, with it in his mouth, runs as fast as fast can be, round and round, back and forth, all around. The other sixteen chicks give chase. Some run behind him, others set up and wait till he comes by, but all eyes are on the chick with the horsefly. When another chick snatches the horsefly out of the first one's mouth, it starts again, in another direction, with sixteen chicks chasing the new possessor of the horsefly. Round and round they go, with the horsefly changing hands, er beaks, like some crazy speed fueled soccer game. It only ends when one of the chicks manages to swallow the bug, or another unfortunate horsefly enters the arena. It's better than ESPN.

It makes me think of how we humans act sometimes. One of our neighbors gets a new car, a new boat, a promotion, a bigger house, a younger wife, or his kids are in the honor society. Do we sit back and congratulate him, resting in our own accomplishments? No, we decide WE need the newest, biggest, best toy, or start to wonder why our spouse has let themselves go, or why our kid isn't in the gifted program. Instead of enjoying what we do have, we start to feel dissatisfied. We feel like we don't have what we deserve. We chase after someone else's life as if it were the one thing that could make us happy. We look like a little chick running behind them, hoping to snatch the prize from their beaks.

But what if....? What if instead of chasing after things, material or personal, accomplishments, etc....what if we were so filled with Jesus that people were chasing after us to get our prize? What if the way we exhibited our love for Jesus was so strong, so pure, and so desirable that others could not resist? And what if instead of running from them to keep it to ourselves, we ran to them and offered it up? What if we knew that we had an endless supply, and that sharing it with others would actually increase our own supply? Not just knew it in our heads, but believed it in our hearts so strongly that we lived that way? Can you imagine what that would be like?

I can, because I've seen it. Read the New Testament. Jesus lived his life in such a way that people up and left their jobs, their families, their homes, everything, just to follow him. There was nothing on this earth that could keep them away. They wanted what he had, what he was, and they followed after him like little chicks. Everyone? No, not at all. Just the ones who truly desired to be like him and were willing to give up self. And then he was gone. Did everyone go away, give up? No, the disciples kept running to people, offering them the prize they knew they had, and the one they knew others needed. They understood what they had and how important it was to share it. They didn't just share it with the people who happened into their church. No, they went out seeking others. They wanted everyone to have their gift so much, that they gave up their very lives to spread the gospel.

What, or who, are you chasing? Are you so satisfied with Jesus that you resist the siren call of coveting others' lives, possessions, and talents? And are you so aware of the value of the gift you have, the gospel, that you share it openly, willingly, with everyone, not waiting for them to ask for something they don't know they need, but explaining why they do? Consider it and see if there are some changes you need to make.