Willing to come near
“How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37).
After a fierce forest fire, some exhausted fire-fighters were walking back to their vehicles through the burnt ground of what had been a farmyard. One of them noticed something sticking up from the field and, as he passed by, he kicked over the unusual, charred remains. To his complete surprise, underneath the object he had kicked away were three or four little chicks, still alive. The charred remains were all that was left of their mother. As the fire had raged, the mother hen gathered her chicks and waited for the flames to pass, as she protected her brood under her wings. Astonishingly the tiny chicks had been saved.
Several times in the Old Testament wings are used to illustrate God’s constant care and protection for His people – His desire to keep them close. In Deuteronomy 32:10-11 eagle’s wings are used to describe how God carried His people through the wilderness:
“He kept him as the apple of his eye.
As an eagle stirs up its nest,
Hovers over its young,
Spreading out its wings, taking them up,
Carrying them on its wings.”
When Boaz, King David’s great-grandfather, first met Ruth, his future wife, he encouraged her by saying, “The Lord repay your work, and a full reward be given you by the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings you have come for refuge” (Ruth 2:12).
As Jesus experienced the rejection of His people, He looked over Jerusalem and expressed the feelings of His heart with these words, “How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” (Matthew 23:37). Jesus said, “But you were not willing.” Of course, He was talking about a rebellious nation. But all of us are capable of drifting away from our Saviour. The Ephesians, for all their spiritual blessings, lost their first love. This doesn’t necessarily mean we stop participating in all the aspects of Christian fellowship. It means, as our hearts grow cold, we lose the joy of our salvation and we go through the motions. Throughout the history of Christendom there has been the constant danger of rebellion against the centrality of Christ and the simplicity of following Him.
In Genesis, Joseph beautifully illustrates the heart of Christ when He said to his brothers, “Come near to me” (Genesis 45:4). Barnabas gave the finest spiritual advice to the young Christians at Antioch when he “exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (Acts 11:23, KJV). The word “cleave” means to join or glue together. Barnabas was saying to those believers, “Above all else stay close to the Lord.” This vital, simple exhortation has never lost its relevance. There is no safer place or more powerful place than being close to the Lord. Although there are many reasons why we cease to have fellowship with our Saviour, He never loses the desire to bring us into the blessing of His presence. His love never fails. The important thing is to face up to the things that separate us from the enjoyment of this love, then be willing to open our hearts and know again the peace and safety of sheltering beneath the grace and love of God.
