Ostriches are huge birds with powerful legs which enable them to run as fast as 40 miles an hour. They are not very smart birds, so they are controlled by men through fear and nervous instinct rather than by their intelligence.
Recently we watched these birds run races. In some of the races, the riders rode on the ostriches’ backs, and in others the birds were yoked in a harness, pulling carts behind them which looked like Roman chariots. Each bird was steered by waving a broom at the side of its head. The bird’s instincts would make it turn the other direction. To make the bird move faster the broom was brushed or beaten on its backside, hurrying it forward out of its frightened instinct to get away. Men at the finish line helped to calm the birds at the end of the race. A judge made the decision as to which man-and-bird team won the race.
Although this race was run to entertain people and make them laugh, it would remind us of a far more important and serious race that each of us is running every day. That is the race of life. The world, too, seems to be running a race, but, sad to say, the world seems to run its race much like the ostrich —blindly turning this way or that way out of fear. Like the ostrich, the world has tremendous power, but it does not understand where it is running or why. Yes, man and his world are being blindly driven by sin and Satan. There is no winner at the end of that race. The “prize” at the end is judgment in the lake of fire. But still men run on, ignoring the warning signs and often refusing to look at the danger ahead of them.
But the Lord Jesus Christ loves every one of us and asks us to listen to His voice. He urges us to step out of that race that leads to judgment and simply to follow Him. He does not drive us in fear, but to those who will listen to His voice He simply says in love, “Follow Me.” Matthew 4:1919And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. (Matthew 4:19). He also tells us, “Come unto Me... and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-3028Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28‑30). He also says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand.” John 10:27,2827My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: 28And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. (John 10:27‑28).
What a price Jesus paid to deliver you from Satan’s race that ends in judgment. “The Good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep.” John 10:1111I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. (John 10:11). Have you ever heard His voice? Are you following the One who loves you and who gave His life for you? Why not step out of the race and follow Him right now? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:3131And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31).
ML-08/30/1987