STIRRED NESTS--W.F. BELL

SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS

Deuteronomy 32:11; Acts 17:16; 2 Peter 3:1

While praying today (hopefully along with many of you), I asked the Lord to "stir me," and was reminded of what is said in Deuteronomy 32:11 about "an eagle stirring up her nest, fluttering over her young, spreading abroad her wings," etc. The eagle not only cares for and provides for her young, but stirs them out of their nests, teaching them by example to use their wings and learn to fly. God did the same for Jacob when "He found him in a desert land," then "led him," then "instructed him," then "kept him as the apple of his eye" (verses 9-10). The nation of Israel itself was "stirred" out of Egypt through Moses, Jehovah saying to them, "I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to myself" (Exodus 19:4).

We can be "stirred" the wrong way, and many times we are, with "hatred stirring up strife" (Proverbs 10:12; 29:22), or by those who oppose Christ and the gospel "stirring up" unbelievers to persecute the people of God (Acts 6:12; 14:2). Yet, all Christians need to "stir up the gift of God" in them (2 Timothy 1:6), and we all need our "pure minds" to be "stirred up" often in "remembrance" of holy things (2 Peter 3:1). Is this not so?

Our nation needs stirring! Our churches need stirring! Our ministers need stirring! I personally need stirring! We are lax, lazy, indifferent, "settled on our lees," and need pushing out of our nests of self-indulgence and luxury. We need to learn to fly away from carnality and ease, and fly deep into the loveliness of Christ. As a hymnwriter once put it,

Lord, if thou thy grace impart,

Poor in spirit, meek in heart,

I shall, as my Master, be

Rooted in humility.

Simple, teachable, and mild,

Changed into a little child;

Pleased with all the Lord provides;

Weaned from all the world besides.

Are you and I "rooted in humility," and "teachable, and mild"? Are we truly "changed into a little child," and "pleased with all the Lord provides," being "weaned from all the world besides"? We must be "stirred" from on high if so. And amid the gross idolatry of our day, may the "stirring" of once-proud Saul of Tarsus become our experience also: "Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry" (Acts 17:16). The Almighty "stirred" Saul out of his self-righteous nest, then "stirred" him the rest of his life to proclaim the glories of the Lord Jesus Christ. May grace do the same for us.

May we all join in heartfelt prayer that God would STIR us, WEAN us, and SEND us out to glorify Christ.