I once heard a story that I loved, I have to share it with you. The story was told to a preacher many years ago, and it was told by a Cherokee Indian.
The Indian was listening to a teaching about an eagle and decided to show the preacher something new about the eagle. He took the preacher to a valley in Cherokee, they took their binoculars and looked down into the wilderness of the valley, and they saw five eagles in the wilderness area. The eagles were on the ground with their heads hung down.
The preacher asked the Indian what happened to them. The Indian replied. These eagles once soared high but one day they decided to come to the wilderness and walk around. As long as they were in flight, the wind kept the calcium beat off their beaks, but once they spent too much time in the wilderness the calcium built up on their beaks, now they were unable to fly. They had become weak from the calcium build up and lost their appetite. Because they were unable to eat, they were too weak to fly back to their previous heights out of the valley.
The preacher said ‘what will happen to them?’ The Indian showed him an area that had 27 white crosses. He said ‘this is where I bury the eagles that die in the wilderness.’ The preacher asked ‘is there any hope?’ The Indian replied ‘come, let me show you.’ He took the preacher to a high place and they looked up and saw two eagles come flying near the wilderness, as they got closer you could see they had something in their mouth, it was food.’ As the two men watched, the two eagles flew down close to the five eagles and dropped food for them, as they dropped food they would scream as if telling the five eagles to eat.
Time after time these two eagles brought food and screamed for the five eagles to eat, slowly two eagles began to walk over and eat the meals provided by the two soaring eagles. The preacher was amazed and asked ‘how do the eagles know to do that?’ The Indian replied ‘they were once in the wilderness, they understand if they don’t eat, they will die there, the only way out is to eat and become strong enough to fly out.’ The preacher said ‘what will happen now?’ The man replied, ‘come back in a few days and we will see.’
A few days later the preacher returned and they went back to the valley, there the Indian showed the preacher three new crosses where three of the eagles had died. The preacher said ‘where are the other two?’ The Indian took him up to a high rock and said ‘an eagle never leaves the rock it was born on, it always returns.’ The eagles, those two, had eaten enough to return to the rock. They gained strength and beat the calcium off their beaks and began to fly again.
The story touched me to my innermost being. This story is my hearts cry. I see so many Christians who are in the wilderness, wandering around, becoming weaker and weaker. Once they lose their strength or their faith, they are unable to fly at the heights they once flew. It is so sad to me.
Like those two eagles, it is my hearts cry to gather food and take it to the starving, weak Christians, to enable them to become stronger and stronger, until they can beat off everything that is holding them down and fly again. I know they can fly at heights beyond what they can now see, I have seen it.
Like those two eagles I want to scream EAT! EAT! That is why I do what I do. That is why I seek God for a daily fresh word, in my own way; I am traveling into the wilderness places, and looking for those who are too weak to fly alone, dropping down food and saying eat!
Eagles need meat – Christians need the meat of the word of God. Daily when I send out a motivation, I am bringing you food, nourishment and hoping and praying that you will eat and soar again.
Today I encourage you to eat, eat and eat some more. Eat the meat of the word of God. Devour encouraging teaching. Devour the words found in your Bible. Eat. Eat. Eat until you are fully nourished. If you find yourself too weak to fly, please eat.
