Ministry Resources

60 Seconds – The Eaglet

Author: Dave Arnold

In Psalm 139:15, David declared of himself while he was still in his mother’s womb, “I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought.” “Skillfully wrought” is a picture of variegated colors, as in tapestry or fine needlepoint. The same word is used in the book of Exodus when God describes the inner curtains for the tabernacle. They were made, fitted, formed, and embroidered together in special ways, so the tapestry revealed a unique beauty.

An eagle was born, then abandoned. After three days he reasoned, “If I stay here, I’ll die.” So, he carefully jumped, and fluttered to the ground. As he was searching for food, he met a flock of turkeys.

The head turkey invited him to eat with them. The turkeys were eating acorns, so he ate acorns too, but it was difficult, because eagles don’t eat acorns. The head turkey asked him where he was going, and he answered, “I have no place to go.” The head turkey said, “Why don’t you come live with us?”

So, he went to live with the turkeys.

They named him “a turkey.” They began to fully “turkeyise” him, as each day he got lessons on how to be a good turkey. They taught him how to scratch, look for acorns, avoid hunters, and find a good roost for the night. They educated him well.

Now, when you are a turkey, it is easy to be a turkey. But, when you are an eagle, it is difficult to be a turkey.
So, this little eagle tried to imitate the turkeys, but it was a major struggle. One day, as he passed through an opening in the forest, the eaglet stopped and looked up to the sky, and at a great height, he saw an eagle soaring. Something down inside him said, “I want to be up there!” (You can take an eagle out of the sky, but you cannot take the sky out of an eagle).

The head turkey hurried over, saw him gazing up, and told him to stop, saying what he saw were buzzards, adding, “And you know what buzzards do.” The eaglet shoved the desire back down within him, saying to himself, “I’m not supposed to want that,” and set out to be a better turkey than ever before. But the harder he tried, the worse it got.

One early morning, this discouraged eaglet stopped under a tree with his head down and wings drooping. An owl on a tree limb inquired, “Whooo are you?” The eagle answered, “I’m a turkey.” The owl said, “You’re not a turkey, you’re an eagle.” The eaglet thought for a moment, and expressed, “No, I’m a turkey,” walking away despondently.

Lesson: After you hear long enough that you are a turkey, you believe it.

An eagle, though surrounded by turkeys, has got to start believing he is an eagle, if he is ever going to start being an eagle!

Isaiah 40:31, “They that wait upon the Lord…shall mount up with wings like eagles.”

Take just 60 seconds, and have something to think about all day! Stimulating articles written by Dave Arnold.

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