Do you know the fowl that flies faster than any other in horizontal flight? It may surprise you that it is not a species of eagle or a hawk. Raptors do hold the avian speed title for diagonal, downward dives, but the bird that deserves the crown for fastest flying horizontal flight is the small, relatively insignificant, fly-catching swift. These birds have many remarkable traits which we would benefit from considering.
Chimney Swifts
Swifts are always on the move making a long migration every year from North America to Central America before the cold of winter arrives. They spend their summers chasing bugs through the skies and raising young ones. Just before migrating, they gather in huge flocks numbering in the thousands before they begin their journey south. Different flocks tend to find the same resting places year after year. One such place is the high and large brick chimney of the Chapman Elementary School in Portland, Oregon. The furnace is turned off for the summer. In early September, swifts by the thousands gather in flight above the chimney. Then at dusk, just before all the light disappears, as if by some uncanny, invisible signal, thousands of swifts will start flying in a tight vortex above the chimney. So many swifts flying at one time, all in the same circular direction, makes it look like a mini-tornado hovering above the chimney. All of a sudden, the circling swifts begin diving into the chimney. Every few seconds several of the birds disappear down the flue of the chimney until the whole flock has found a roosting place for the night. The phenomenon is so predictable that local folks have made it an annual event to bring lawn chairs and blankets to the school grounds to make themselves comfortable in order to watch it when it happens.
Those swifts have a strong instinct to gather in great numbers and find a home for the night. God, their Creator, implanted this instinct in them. What can we learn from this? It can remind us that God has implanted an even stronger instinct in the hearts of men and women to come to know and love Him. This is exactly the reason why their hearts can never rest content until they find their rest in the God who made them. A great Christian writer once wrote, “You have made us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
Home for the Heart
God is pure and infinite in goodness. There is none other like Him so excellent in all His ways. The greatest need of humankind is to come to know him. Deep in our hearts, each one of us knows we were made to love Him. However, since sin has entered the world, people have mistakenly sought to find the good that can only be found in God by seeking for it in lesser things — things that were never meant to satisfy our souls in a lasting way. For instance, the greedy man thinks the ultimate good is found in more wealth, the drug addict in his next fix, and the proud person in looking down on others. These are only a few examples; the list goes on and on. But no matter what those lesser things are that people may be seeking in place of God, He wants all men to repent and change their ways. We are such stubborn sinners that we find this difficult to do on our own. We need God’s grace and help.
So that grace might come to sinners, Jesus Christ, God’s Son, came to this earth. He loved us so much that He went all the way to Calvary’s cross where He gave His life. He lived a sinless life. Then His suffering on the cross opened the way to display His grace to every sinner who has ever lived in this world. “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:1717For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. (John 1:17)). “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:88For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: (Ephesians 2:8)). By His grace He reaches out to sinners who have no just claim on His love, and He seeks to make them His own. Through grace sinners may come and receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. Oh won’t you believe in Christ Jesus, the only Savior of sinners, that you might find a home in God’s love? Don’t go on foolishly and mindlessly loving lesser things as if they are the greatest good a person can obtain in this life. Those who do so will miss out on God’s love and grace. Remaining strangers to His grace in this life carries an enormous risk with it. When those who reject God’s grace die, they will be sent out of His presence for all eternity to a place called hell. Hell is the final resting place for the wicked. But it is a misnomer to call it a resting place. There won’t be any peace or rest in hell — nothing but torment and remorse. “The wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-2120But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. 21There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. (Isaiah 57:20‑21)).
The swifts, wise by instinct, gather by the thousands and find a home for the night. Won’t you give heed to that instinct inside you telling you there is something more to life and that you need God? And then by faith, come to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. He loves you and wants you to come to know Him. If you do, on some future day, you will be among the millions from every age that gather together to rejoice in His presence in heaven.
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