Did you ever see baby eagles in a nest? It is not likely, because eagles make their nests high up in tall trees or on power-line towers.
Someone mounted a video camera that took pictures of an eagle’s nest. We could see it on our computer. The nest is made of sticks and twigs, with moss inside to make it comfortable. There were two eaglets, as baby eagles are called. When the little eaglets tried to stand, they fell over. They were too weak to stand, but they were hungry.
Then as we watched, two big eagles landed on the nest. Father and mother eagle came to the nest with some meat in their talons - talons are claws on their feet. Since the eaglets were so small, they could only eat little pieces of the food. The parent eagles, using their big, hooked beaks, carefully pulled pieces off the meat held in their talons. Pieces small enough for the babies to swallow were offered to them. The babies quickly took the pieces in their beaks and swallowed them. The mother and father birds kept pulling off small pieces and giving them to their babies. The little ones ate all that was given to them.
Now what has this to do with Bible verses? As I watched the eagles being fed, it made me think of the verses that children in Sunday school learn when they are very young - short verses like “God is light” (1 John 1:55This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)) and “God is love” (1 John 4:88He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:8)). Every verse in the Bible is important.
When the eagles grew, the mother gave them bigger pieces to eat. Later they were able to tear off the meat for themselves. So older boys and girls in Sunday school are able to learn some longer verses. Your moms and dads help you to learn these verses. Later you can learn them for yourselves without your parents’ help.
After a while those eagles will be taught to catch their own food. What does that mean to you? It means that you will grow and be able to read God’s Word for yourself. It is a good habit to form. Read your Bible every day and think about what you have read.
An old man in a nursing home had such poor eyesight that he could no longer read. He knew many Bible verses. He told me he had learned them when he was young.
What would happen if an eagle quit hunting for food? It would starve to death, right? If you want a happy Christian life, keep on reading the Word of God as you grow up. Then don’t stop because you are an adult. We all need this “food” every day of our lives!
ML-10/15/2006