pramsay posted on January 10, 2008 18:32
832 views
Sammy the Crow
“Noah dear, I’ve searched the ship high and low and I can’t find Sammy anywhere. I missed him cawing this morning.”
“It’s my fault,” Noah told his wife. “I thought I’d let Sammy out to see how things were going since the storm stopped. I wanted to see if the water levels were down enough for us to leave the ark. But the thing never returned.”
“Noah, you should have known better. The moment he found a floating dead carcass, I’m sure he’d just land on it, rip into it and have a feast. After all, Sammy’s a scavenger at heart. Just a raven.”
“Here’s the good news honey,” says Noah. “I let the dove out last week and after a little while it came back. I sent it out again this morning and guess what? It had a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Honey, the tree tops must be showing. Soon we’ll be able to leave the ship.”
Excuse the imagination. The actual Biblical account goes like this:
He sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro,
until the waters were dried up…
Also he sent forth a dove … to see if the waters were abated…
The dove found no rest….she returned…to the ark….and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark;
And the dove came in…and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf …
so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth…”
(Genesis 8:7-12)
Are you connecting with this story? When you want a good old feast to please your inner yearnings, what do you do? What do you land on? Some old dead carcass that is rotten and stinking? Can you get some satisfaction out of that? Are you a Sammy?
Sammy the crow would have no interest in an olive leaf. A maggot-infested carcass of a porcupine would be a more sumptuous meal than a green leaf. His appetite was very much a part of his nature and it was reflected in the choices Sammy made.
At least two applications from this story can be made. Think of it as the difference between the Flesh and the Spirit in the life of a believer. The moment we trust Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up His permanent residence in us – never to leave, regardless of what happens. He gives you a new appetite you never had before. You now crave to learn more about Jesus. You now really want to please Him. The Bible becomes your favorite book. These are the new desires of a Spirit-filled life of a believer. The new life appeals to you and you clench it in your beak – like that new olive leaf after the judgment of the flood.
As a Christian, you find yourself normally repulsed by sin but now there are those internal struggles that plague you. An hour after you have enjoyed amazing thoughts about Christ, you suddenly have a wickedly vile thought. Quickly things deteriorate and before you know it, you have sinned. Your feet have landed on a rotten carcass. You have sunk your claws into it and in your beak is a hefty chunk of decaying meat. Sammy the crow. If and when this happens read 1John 1:8 to 2:2 and confess your sin. For more on the struggle between the Flesh and the Spirit in a believer, read Galatians 5.
But here’s a second consideration: it’s possible to keep a Sammy in a cage and he artificially looks like he has been changed. But once the opportunity comes, he takes flight and returns to what he loves most and best – the decaying meat of this world. Never transformed or changed to begin with. That is a real possibility as well.
Have you truly experienced the change that Christ makes in one’s life?