I’m not really a fan of flies. In fact, no self-respecting fly is ever allowed to come near me! If I see one, I give out a warning ‘hiss’ and make sharp jabbing movements towards it with my beak. (It’s a bit like a parrot form of Kung-Fu). And if I happen to be on the windowsill, I’ll run up and down giving chase, sometimes jumping up into the air if the fly starts to climb the window.
Well, at this time of year, flies are few and far between, but a few days ago, one suddenly appeared on the kitchen window by my cage. And he (or she) was a busy little fellow, scurrying backwards and forwards, perplexed and puzzled by the pane of glass which offered a tantalizing glimpse of the world outside. Well, my owner noticed it, and on two occasions, he opened a window in an attempt to usher it out, but the fly didn’t understand and went the wrong way. And so our fly drama continued into a second day. He (or she) was probably getting very hungry by now. Backwards and forwards he went, desperate to get out into the garden beyond. Until eventually, at the third attempt, my owner was able to set him free. But from the fly’s perspective, was this really such a good idea? Because the temperature in the garden was falling away fast, and later in the night, it started to snow. And we can only guess whether this little fly found some sheltered nook in which to hole itself up.
Humans like to think that they’re a lot more intelligent than flies, but I’m not so sure about that. It could be that flies are the brighter of the two. I mean, have you ever seen a fly lighting up a cigarette, taking illegal drugs, or gambling away all of its money? Yes, humans do make some pretty bad decisions which later come back to haunt them.
The Bible is full of examples of this. We have Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden picking and eating their apple (Genesis 3:6), the prodigal son who blows his inheritance on wild living (Luke 15: 13-14), and perhaps worst of all, Judas Iscariot betraying Jesus to the chief priests (Matthew 26: 14-15a). And as we so often discover, every decision that we take comes with consequences…
“It’s not that I’ve been invited into the hole I’m standing in. It’s that I accepted the invitation.”
(Craig D. Lounsbrough: 1963 – present: American academic and professional counsellor)
OK. I have to begrudgingly admit that not all parrots get it right either, especially when we gnaw through the perch that we happen to be sitting on. We all get it wrong from time to time, but instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, we can always try to turn things around…
“Don’t mourn over your bad decisions. Just start overcoming them with good ones.” (Joyce Meyer: 1943 – present: American author and preacher)
And talking of good decisions, as we continue our run-in to Eastertime, there is one good decision which stands out over and above everything else. And that was Jesus’ decision to come to Earth to save us all…
“If you knew that only a few would care that you came, would you still come? If you knew that those you loved would laugh in your face, would you still come? If you knew that the tongues you made would mock you, the mouths you made would spit at you, the hands you made would crucify you, would you still make them? Christ did.”
(Max Lucado 1955 – present: American author and preacher)
So irrespective of whether we’re a fly, a parrot or a human, and irrespective of whether we’re having a brilliant day or a bad one, there’s every reason for us to celebrate, to rejoice and to sing Jesus’ praises because the choice He made to save was beyond ‘the incredible!’
