"Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft.” Deuteronomy 32:11
We saw this eagle searching for food on a hike last month, and it reminded me of this image in Deuteronomy.
This life is hard. No doubt. But sometimes, what throws us can come from within.
The heart is evil above all else (Jeremiah 17:9). We forget this truth. In our world of “Namaste,” we want to believe we are able, from some source found in ourselves, by ourselves to save ourselves. Namaste has a meaning. It means, “I bow to the god in you.” or I acknowledge you as a god.
But we aren’t gods, are we? This sounds like the very first lie in the Garden when the serpent whispered in Eve’s ear that the forbidden fruit would make them like gods (Genesis 3:5). And taking it back even further, Lucifer wanted to be equal to God, thus making himself a god to be worshiped (Isaiah 14:12-15, Ezekiel 28:16-17).
Same temptation. We think we can do things on our own and therefore don’t need a Savior.
His Word tells us that we need a Savior. We see evidence of this in Romans 3:23, John 14:6, And most compelling, Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But our heart means to deceive us. It pumps out “Self-reliance,” and the world cheers us on. We hear from the world things like, “You can do anything!” and “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” But these are not truths.
We’ve lived enough life to know that we can do nothing apart from our Creator (John 15:5). Truth tells us there's only one way to the Father, through Christ. And we are stuck. Incapable. Unable.
That’s why we need a Savior.
Sometimes we need saving from ourselves. We see evidence of this when we face something difficult and find ourselves wanting an escape. It’s not the desire for escape that is evil. Rather, the path of escape we take. We feel the hardness of this life and want to exit the situation right now. Quick fix. A drink, or three. A pill to calm the nerves. Maybe leaning into a co-worker too much. Or ignoring our need to repent and renounce the evil we are catering to.
We find ourselves in too deep. From our own bad choices or from the stuff of this crazy world. We can’t rescue ourselves. Whether the pressure is from without or within, we can’t walk through it alone.
God knew that when He was creating a world for us. He knew it when He created a helpmate for the first man, Adam. He knew it when He gave humans the one rule, to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:17). He knew it when man sinned. And so He gave us Jesus. The Word made flesh. Perfect Sacrifice.Emmanuel, God with us.
Jesus came, not as a king, but as a helpless babe. He lived in this world. He was tempted, yet sinned not (Hebrews 4:14-16). He felt our sorrow, suffering, and joy. He was familiar with all the stuff of a human soul. He loved us. And then, He laid His life down for us. He became sin so that we would become righteous (2 Corinthians 5:21). He conquered sin and death when he descended into Hell. He ascended into Heaven and even now sits at the right hand of the Father, advocating on our behalf. Covering us with His righteousness.
That is how we walk through this life; with our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Righteousness.
We fail. He rescues. We need Him. He is there.
And He, like an eagle, stirring up its nest, hovering over us, catches us when we fall. What a Savior!
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