The wife and I were sitting on the patio yesterday. She let out a slight exclamatory sound and then informed me there was a bird in our pool. I went over an look at this poor guy flapping like crazy to keep his head above water. 

I got the net and scooped him out. I didn’t know if he was going to make it. He looked like a baby bird. Most of his skin was showing. He was weakened, visibly shivering, and mostly limp once he was out of the pool. In short, he looked pathetic.

I just laid the net on some ground cover and left him there. As my wife and I continued our discussion, I would look over occasionally and comment about how he was still shivering and hadn’t moved.

I went and picked him up again. I moved him to on top of a cloth shade we have hanging near the patio to keep out the summer sun. He was directly exposed to the sun and a little breeze. He shivered a while longer. He finally stopped shivering and I gave him a caterpillar to keep him company. 

Shortly after I noticed the caterpillar was gone and he had moved a bit. Next thing I know he’s sitting on the roof tweeting away and looking fluffy, dry, and healthy. A moment later he flew away.

I sat and wondered how often we do that spiritually. We get caught in sin and we’re literally on our way to dying in it. No amount of our own effort can free us. Struggling only makes us more tired and pathetic. God, with no obligation to, comes, frees us, puts us where we can be safe, and gives us what we need to be healthy again.

How often does that happen? We feel like we finally got our life back in order and we fly off, never again to think of the great danger we were in. Forgetting, until next time, the God who rescued us.