Emcumbrances

In the Alleghenies Mountains a hunter mistakenly shot a large eagle. Usually they soar far above the hunter's range, but not this time. When the hunter examined the bird, he discovered an interesting thing. One of the claws of the big bird held firmly a strong steel trap and a five-foot chain attached! The trap and the chain were not heavy enough to impede the eagle's flight, but it did weary it, and brought it down within shot range of the rifle.

Esther Sapp observed, "So, too, Christians can be entrapped and brought low spiritually by encumbrances and sin that make them incapable of rising to the heights they might otherwise attain." (Come Ye Apart. Kansas City: WordAction Publishing Company, March-May, 2000, p. 86.)

-Derl G. Keefer, Preaching November/December 2002