Birds of a Feather

Visiting Nassau’s Ardastra Gardens was one of the highlights of our Bahamas vacation. My husband and I laughed as we watched the world famous marching flamingos circle the performance ring. With their long spindly legs and graceful S-shaped necks, the birds obeyed the commands of their “drill sergeant.” Around the ring they marched, puffing out their chests. When the “sergeant” blew his whistle, the birds would do a quick about face and head the other way. They were hilarious. After the show we learned that this particular generation of birds hadn’t been trained at all. Decades ago, the owner of the gardens had trained a few flamingos, as part of an experiment. Now the younger birds mimic the older birds, and so it has continued for generations of the garden’s flamingos. It reminded me of that game follow the leader we used to play as children. Even as adults we still follow leaders, don’t we? Pastors and their wives, mentors, teachers, supervisors at work, and others. Are we choosing to follow people who are worthy to be followed? Keep in mind that others are watching and following us—our children and grandchildren and neighbors, for instance. Are we leading them as we should? Not all leaders do so—consider Adolph Hitler and Mao Zedong, for example. Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  (Matthew 16:24--NIV) Jesus calls us to follow him too. He will not lead us astray. Nor will he suddenly order us to do a spiritual about face. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. 

An award-winning writer and frequent conference speaker, Shirley Raye Redmond is the author of Courageous World Changers: 50 True Stories of Daring Women of God (Harvest House). She holds an M.A. in literature and has been married to her husband Bill for over forty years. They live in New Mexico where she is prayer chairman for her local Community Bible Study (CBS). Touch bases at shirleyrayeredmond.com or Facebook.