For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people and said:  “The time is coming, declares the Lord,  when I will make a new covenant  with the house of Israel  and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant  I made with their forefathers  when I took them by the hand  to lead them out of Egypt,  because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,  and I turned away from them,  declares the Lord.  This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel  after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds  and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God,  and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor,  or a man his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,’  because they will all know me,  from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness  and will remember their sins no more.”  By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Hebrews 8:7-13 (NIV)

Kierkegaard, the Danish philosopher, told a story about a goose who was wounded and who landed in a barnyard with some chickens. He played with the chickens and ate with the chickens. After a while that goose thought he was a chicken. One day a flight of geese came over, migrating to their home. They gave a honk up there in the sky, and he heard it.

Kierkegaard said, “Something stirred within the breast of this goose. Something called him to the skies. He began to flap the wings he hadn’t used, and he rose a few feet into the air. Then he stopped, and he settled back again into the mud of the barnyard. He heard the cry, but he settled for less.”

This story aptly illustrates what God found wrong with the first covenant.  After separating a people to Himself, giving them His Word, calling them to obedience and faithfulness, He found fault with the people.  They were unfaithful, unbelieving, disobedient, and rebellious.  However, it wasn’t because they couldn’t hear the call through the prophets, but because they just didn’t have it in them to rise to the challenge.

As Christ followers, under the new covenant, good intentions are met with divine empowerment.  God has written His laws in our hearts, drawn us into an intimate relationship, and sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and with us!  Our rebellion and unbelief are met with mercy and grace so that by His kindness we are led to repentance.  Unlike our friend the goose, we hear God’s voice, spread our wings, and fly again.

God’s Word has been so comforting and challenging to me.  After a period of time that seemed much like a “dark night of the soul”, I hear Him calling again.  After falling into the barnyard of life I am experiencing rest and refreshment as He convicts and cleanses me.  Spiritual strength seems to be surging back into what was once a tired, discouraged, and beaten spirit.  I’m gonna fly again.  No more living like a chicken!

Do you want to come along?