By F. D. Adkins
“FREE TO FLY”
When I was a kid, my dad decided to raise cattle for extra income. Now, my dad was raised in town, had never lived or worked on a farm, and knew nothing about farm animals, let alone cattle. Nevertheless, he rented sixteen acres of pasture land, put up a barbed wire fence, and went to the livestock market to purchase young beef cattle that he planned to fatten up and resell. He bought around thirty cows. Six of them were babies, and we soon learned they were too young to have been separated from their mother. My dad had to go to the local farm store and buy giant bottles and some sort of powdered formula for cows. In addition to the six babies that had to be bottle-fed, he had purchased one really old milk cow that looked like a bobblehead figurine from a distance because her head appeared abnormally large for her old body. He thought the other cows would stick close to her because of her age. They did not. The other twenty-some-odd cows roamed the other side of the fence. Each day, when my parents got off from work and we checked on the cattle, it was not a question as to whether any of them had gotten out, but how far they had gone and where we had to go to find them. These cows were not satisfied with sixteen acres of oats. They wanted more… more than what that pasture had to offer.
This past week, I focused on memorizing John 8:31 and 32.
“They said Jesus to those Jews which believed on Him, if ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:31-32 KJV
In this world, we often find ourselves searching… for fulfillment and purpose… for something to fill a void in our lives. In the depths of our hearts, we know we were meant for more. And friends, we are meant for more than this world. As these verses detail, freedom comes in a relationship with Jesus… knowing Him and the truth in His Word… because through Him, we have everlasting life.
We are meant for so much more than this world. This world is temporary. Jesus died to give us real freedom, but we have to accept it. We have to accept Jesus, believe in Him and His Word, and if we truly believe, we will desire to grow and continue in His Word as His disciples.
One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 40:31. “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint” (KJV).
My friends, we were meant for more than this world… and that “more” is found in having a close and personal relationship with Jesus.
