Eagle Saints
Devotional 162

Paying the Consequences of Compromise

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and COUNTETH THE COST, whether he have sufficient to finish it?" Jesus, Luke 14:28 KJV (Capitals are mine for emphasis)

HE WILL PAY A HIGH PRICE FOR "TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT"

Often a young and inexperienced eagle will surrender to a momentary temptation of laziness, and instead of hunting live and healthy food, will compromise, and and settle for road kill along the highway side. Sadly, he will pay a high price for "taking the easy way out". The dead carcass he sees has often been sitting out in the sun for a considerable length of time, and is now bloated and contaminated. After gorging himself with food which is rotting and poisoned, he tries to fly back to his nest.

AS A VEHICLE APPROACHES, HE HAS TEMPORARILY LOST HIS ABILITY TO QUICKLY GET OUT OF THE WAY

Because of ingesting dead matter instead of live food, his entire system is adversely affected. He now finds himself incapable of catching the next wind current, and soaring high into the air, as he is weighted down with the dead weight of his last meal. As a vehicle approaches, he has temporarily lost his ability to quickly get out of the way. Hit head on, he is either seriously injured, from which he never fully recovers, or killed. He pays the consequences of compromise.

THE WORDS, "SACRIFICE", "CONSECRATION", AND "DETERMINATION" ARE NOW SELDOM FOUND IN THEIR VOCABULARY

So it is with with "Eagle Saints" who think it won't matter if they "take short cuts" in their spiritual journey. The words, "sacrifice", "consecration", and "determination" are now seldom found in their vocabulary. The Almighty has decreed a blessed destiny for them, but as it were, they "sell out their birthright" for that which is easily available, not willing to "crucify the flesh", and "pay the price" for the best, which is not readily obtainable.

THERE IS A BETTER WAY, BUT THE COST IS HIGH

In eternity, when the books are opened, they will see "what could have been". But, instead they followed "the path of least resistance". They lived in a world of "instant everything", and thus were not willing to wait, and search for the best which God intended for them to have. Oh, the folly of partaking of that which comes too easily, and not pursuing their full inheritance. There is a better way, but the cost is high. It requires our all, with nothing held back in reserve.

Bishop Marvin Schmidt