On June 15-16, 2011 the Decorah Eaglets one by one left the nest and flew out to a nearby branch for the first time. This is called "branching". I didn't get to see the first two branch. But I watched the last one. He had been alone in the nest for some time and seemed quite agitated about it. He kept flapping his wings and bouncing from one side of the nest to other. It seemed he was trying to work up the courage to leave the safety of the nest and join his siblings out on the branch.
There were thousands of unseen viewers watching from their computers, cheering the eaglets on and heaving a sigh of relief once they witnessed the last one landing safely on the branch. Since February 23rd when the first egg was laid, there have been 152,642,176 viewers captivated by this family, but unseen by the eagle family.
The Bible tells us that we as Christians are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, those who have gone on before us. No doubt they are cheering us on like we all cheered the eaglets on in their quest for freedom to fly. We are admonished to lay aside every weight and the sin that would ensnare us and press on toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
These eaglets have spent ten weeks growing, maturing, strengthening their wings and legs by flapping their wings and pushing off and propelling themselves across the the nest. Their hard work has paid off and now they are able to leave the nest and sit on a branch. Before long they will take their maiden flights.
We too, need to work at Christian maturity and growth. The only way to do that is to dig deep into the Bible, study it and spend time in prayer. We also need to fellowship with people of like faith who will spur us on and cheer us on to greater maturity. Are you ready to "branch out and fly like an eagle" in your Christian faith?
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