Baby Geese

I have been watching a family of geese for the past few weeks. What fun! Five tiny goslings are “in school” under their parents’ watchful eyes. Those goslings faithfully follow their parents anywhere. God made them that way.

It is so sweet to watch the geese swim together. One parent leads, the other guards the rear from enemies. The babies are safe in the middle, paddling along in the protective care of the parents God gave them.

Baby geese are born with God-given wisdom (instinct) to follow their parents. I see a picture here of how God designed family relationships.

We follow Christ, spending time in His Word to know Him better. We listen to His voice and obey Him. As we follow Christ, we become more like Him. That is how it works!

We also have someone following us – like baby goslings – our precious children. They don’t need us to be the perfect academic teacher. They don’t need us to be the perfect housekeeper. They don’t need us to be the perfect anything! They need us to follow Jesus. They need to see us – warts and all – in love with Jesus. Spending time with Him. Crying out to Him when things are really hard. Going to Him when we fail, again and again, for the heart healing that only He can give.

They need to see who we are – not perfect or sinless – but people who love the Father more than anything else, who live in His presence, who are quick to go to Him when we sin so He can restore us.

A baby gosling is single-minded. Its whole life centers on one thought – I will follow my parent. May we be single-minded. May our whole life center on this – I will follow Jesus. And don’t forget, you’ve got some precious little ones following you!

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 11:1