The eagle is a royal bird. One of the cherubs around the throne of God has the face of an eagle. Eagles inspire us! Eagles know how to be lonely and they know how to rejoice as families. Eagles flock together. They never mix with other birds. Lesson: We pray for discernment to be careful with the people we call friends. Just as light cannot mix with darkness so a believer should not be intimate with an unbeliever.

Eagles do not eat dead things; only the vultures do. Lesson: We take the Holy Communion, the Body and the Blood of Christ, who is Life and the Living God.

Eagles mate for life. But they test each other before commitment. The female takes a twig up in the air and drops it. The interested male will go and catch it and return it to her. Then she flies higher and drops it again. The male is to go and faithfully catch it each time. Any male that gets tired of cooperating, of ‘sacrificing himself’ for her, working or playing with her, will be rejected. Lesson: A righteous person is prudent and prayerful when choosing his (hers) life partner. Be friends! Labor together in God’s vineyard, study each other’s ministry before you even consider a marriage candidate. Can you pray together? Can you repent together? Can you rejoice together? Test before you commit into marriage!

During winter, some eagles have to migrate to other places. If they have to leave the nest, the eagles migrate alone, for safety purposes. In spring time, they come back from different places to the same nest. They openly rejoice to find each other again. They fly together, hunt together, just for the pure pleasure to reconciliation. Lesson: both husband and wife need to be strong individually, to withstand pressures of loneliness in ministry and life in general. The period of separation may be hours or days, but there is always a rejoicing, a coming back together,which is ever sweeter.

In old age, the eagle goes away to a lonely spot and plucks up all his feathers by himself. Then he patiently waits for them to grow back again. That is a lonely and vulnerable place to be. But the new feathers are stronger than the old ones and he comes back to his nest with renewed power and zeal for life. Lesson: The Cross is not just history. Unbelievers totally ignore its call. As a believer, you are supposed to know its power intimately, to trust God for seasons of hiding and for the power to push you higher than even before. This power of resurrection is the sure and unique stamp of the true child of God!

In the scripture above, all the words are in plural. You have to imagine many eagles helping one another to fly higher than ever before. This is the power of the encouragement in the Body of Christ. If you are discouraged, look at another believer, and rise from self-pity! If you are bored with the Bible, admire the hunger for righteousness in another brother or sister! Get up to pay the price for it! If you are afraid of your environment, see other believers who face worst temptations than you and still stand to confront the enemy! If you are in doubt, imitate other believers who persevere unto the end, focused and faithful! You are an eagle, not a chicken! Look for other eagles! God’s eagles!

The marathon race is hard. Many start but few finish it. The true champions will tell you that it is easy to start. It is hardest in the middle of it. But if you persevere, then suddenly, the joy of receiving the crown will ignite a new, strange power in you. It is the secret deposit of the Holy Spirit within. I have experienced it. I witness to the glory and to the never ending reserves of Christ in me, the hope of Glory! There is a point in the journey of life when you can confidently say: No more weariness, no more fainting! So, on the wings of prayer and praise, just like the eagles, rise up my friend! I’ll see you up there!