Years ago, we got our daughter a beautiful little green canary for Christmas and she affectionately called it Tweety. It was a happy little bird and when it was hungry, it would live up to its name, tweeting loudly until someone took care of the empty food dish.
Every couple of weeks we needed to clean the cage, and while cleaning the cage, Tweety would often escape; flying around the house tweeting gleefully. Once the cage was clean, we now had the task of getting Tweety back inside.
To get Tweety back in the cage, one particular technique worked very well. I would gently carry the cage to where Tweety was perched, lifting the cage to the tiny bird, calling its name.
Tweety would usually hop into the cage; perhaps enticed by the pristine condition of his home, not to mention clean water and food.
Our little bird flew right out the back door
One particularly beautiful afternoon, while cleaning the cage, Tweety was flitting about the house as we were cleaning his abode. Since it was such a beautiful day, we forgot the back door to the house was wide open.
Tweety saw that the door was open, and just had to go see what was out there! In a flash, Tweety was out the back door!
In a panic, we all ran outside to see where he went. We stood there in the backyard, and then we heard the unmistakable “tweeting” of Tweety. His tweeting was loud and robust; you could hear the excitement in his tone.
We looked up into the tree and there he was, his emerald colors nearly blending into the bright green leaves of the maple tree. He was perched on the second branch of the tree; perhaps I could coax him back into the cage.
I rushed into the house and came running back out holding his cage up toward the branches calling his name; “Tweety, Tweety.” When Tweety saw the cage, he decided that he was not ready to go back in and he flew up higher into the tree.
With my wife and kids looking concerned and worried, I did what any good dad would do; I started climbing the tree after that little green parakeet; taking the cage with me.
I found myself climbing a maple tree with a bird cage in my hand
I climbed about halfway up the maple tree and got really close to Tweety, once again calling his name; but he was enjoying his newfound freedom and decided to go even higher in the tree.
I finally found myself as high in the tree as I could go; the limbs were getting smaller and smaller and Tweety was chirping away, just out of my reach. I recall hanging on for dear life; one hand on the tree branches, the other extending the cage as far as I could, while calling, “Tweety, Tweety.”
I recall the elderly next-door neighbor coming out on her back porch, looking inquisitively at me in the top of the tree calling “Tweety;” she just shook her head and went back inside!
In that final precarious position, stretched out, and as close as I could get, begging Tweety to come back, the little bird decided his freedom would not be denied, and he launched out into the wild blue yonder, never to be seen again!
We were sad to see Tweety depart, but we understood his desire to be free. I think for most people, their lives resemble Tweety’s life; mine certainly did. I felt caged, trapped in a lifestyle I could not escape.
Occasionally I would try and break out of the bondage of the cage by trying drugs, alcohol, sex or some other vice, giving me an illusion of freedom, but I was still trapped, unable to be truly free.
If the Son sets you free . . .
Then Jesus, knocking on the door of my life, He beckons me to open the door to Him. I open the door and stand there; I see the amazing world that I only dreamed could exist. I can smell the fresh clean air, I can see the crystal clear river of life flowing nearby, and my senses are overwhelmed.
Jesus, standing outside of my caged existence, gently calls my name, and with a winsome smile, says; “Come, follow Me.” I step out and my journey begins . . . free at last.
Oh, the devil is never far away, always trying to tempt me back into the cage, calling my name, but the further I walk with Jesus, the less I hear him calling and that old familiar caged life is just a memory.
How about you, are you still caged? Come on outside and follow the Master; He is calling your name, and remember; If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed!