Chuck Swindoll writes about a bazaar that was held in a village in northern India. One old farmer brought in a whole covey of quail to sell. He had tied a string around one leg of each bird. The other ends of all the strings were tied to a ring which fit loosely over a central stick. He had taught the quail to walk dolefully in a circle like mules at a sugarcane mill.
“Nobody seemed interested in buying the birds until a devout Brahman came along. He believed in the Hindu idea of respect for all life, and had compassion for those poor little creatures walking in their monotonous circles.
“‘I want to buy them all,’ he told the merchant, who was elated. After receiving the money, he was surprised to hear the buyer say, ‘Now, I want you to set them all free.’
‘What’s that, sir?’
‘You heard me. Cut them loose. Set them all free!’
With a shrug, the old farmer bent down and snipped the strings off the quail. They were freed at last.
“What happened? The birds simply continued marching around and around in a circle. Finally, the man had to shoo them off. But even when they landed some distance away, they resumed their predictable march. Free, unfettered, released…yet they kept going around in circles as if still tied.”
Swindoll says, “Until you give yourself permission to be the unique person God made you to be…and to do the unpredictable things grace allows you to do…you will be like that covey of quail, marching around in vicious circles of fear, timidity and boredom.” (Dallas Seminary Daily Devotional, 2-7-05)
That kind of fettered life is for the birds! It’s certainly not the abundant life God designed for His sons and daughters. Brothers and sisters, don’t walk in fear. “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Be the person God called and gifted you to be! For “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
Randy Maxwell
www.rentonadventist.org
