Being who we were created to be

On the way home from church yesterday, I saw a deer in mid-air as it was bounding through the field. It was a majestic sight. How wonderful that the deer was behaving exactly as it was created to be, and I was able to enjoy and marvel at the sight.

I began thinking about animals and flowers and all of creation other than man. I couldn’t think of any plant or animal that isn’t beautiful and majestic in it’s own way. I’ve never seen an uninjured deer that chose to limp along. Or a flower that decided it didn’t want to bloom… a fish that didn’t want to swim…a bird that didn’t want to fly. All of creation, other than man, seem to know exactly what they were created to be, and they’re being exactly that. Man, on the other hand, is a completely different story.

We learn early on to fear. We squelch down dreams (our own and others) and settle for the ordinary. We are rarely “majestic”. In some ways, I envy the animals. How wonderful, to be just be as God intended without the complications of the “knowledge of good and evil”. If man had never sinned, can you imagine the majestic beings we would be? But man did sin, and we are a far cry from majestic. Thankfully, that isn’t the end of the story.

Romans 8 verses 1 and 2 say “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. “ Read the whole chapter. It talks about the “anxious longing of creation” “waiting eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God”. As children of God, we have His Spirit within us. As we walk according to the Spirit, and not according to the flesh, we become more and more of the creation God intended.

Yesterday was a day when the messages were “in sync” and it was clear that God was speaking to me on the topic of being who I was created to be. The sermon was on overcoming excessive fear. The Sunday School lesson was on the gifts of the Spirit. Seeing the deer turned my mind toward thoughts of God and the truth that He doesn’t make mistakes in creation. Later in the day, a scripture I was reading talked about how God offers us living water, but we build man-made cisterns that are broken and hold no water.

I don’t want to limp along in life when I was created to bound majestically. I don’t want to strain to drink from an empty broken man-made cistern when I can choose Living Water. It’s scary to even allow yourself to imagine that you could be more. Fear has programmed us to crawl instead of fly. But Romans 8:15 says “For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."

Cry “Abba, Father” and choose the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Let's bound like a deer, bloom like a beautiful flower, rise up on wings like eagles; Let‘s be the Sons of God we were created to be.