A flock of wild ducks was flying in formation, heading south for the winter. They formed a beautiful V in the sky. Everyone who saw them from below admired them.
One day, Wally, one of the wild ducks in the formation, spotted something on the ground that caught his eye. It was a barn yard of tame ducks. They waddled around on the ground, quacking merrily, while eating the corn on the ground that was fed to them each day.
Wally liked what he saw. "It sure would be nice to have some of that corn," he thought to himself. "And all this flying is very tiring. I'd like to just waddle around for awhile."
So after thinking it over a bit, Wally left the formation of wild ducks, made a sharp dive to the left, and headed for the barn yard. He landed among the tame ducks and began to waddle around and quack merrily as he ate the corn.
The formation of wild ducks continued their journey south, but Wally didn't care. "I'll rejoin them when they come back north in a few months," he said to himself.
Several months went by and, sure enough, Wally looked up and spotted the flock of wild ducks in formation, heading north. They looked beautiful up there. Besides, Wally was tired of the barn yard. It was muddy everywhere he waddled--nothing but duck doo-doo.
"It's time to leave," said Wally, as he furiously flapped his wings, trying to get airborne. But he had gained some weight from all that corn. And he hadn't exercised his wings much either.
He finally got off the ground, but he was flying too low. He quickly slammed into the side of the barn, and fell to the ground with a thud. "Ouch!! Oh well, I'll just wait until they fly south in a few months. Then I'll rejoin them and become a wild duck again," he said.
But when the flock flew overhead once more, Wally again tried to lift himself out of the barn yard. He simply didn't have the strength.
Every winter and every spring, he saw his wild duck friends flying overhead. They would call out to him, but his attempts to leave were in vain. Eventually, Wally no longer paid any attention to the wild ducks flying overhead. He hardly even noticed them now. After all, he was now a barn yard duck.
Sometimes we get tired of being wild ducks ... followers of Jesus Christ. It's not always easy to be obedient to God and to discipline ourselves to hang in there for the long haul. When we are feeling that way, that's when Satan tempts us to "fall out of formation" and to join the barn yard ducks... the world. However, you must remember what happened to Wally. He thought he would just "check it out" for awhile and then leave when he wanted to, but he couldn't.
Sin is like that. Sin is a trap, and it has a way of changing us into people that we didn't want to become. Eventually we loose touch with who we really are ... the sons and daughters of the Most High, and become barn yard ducks!!!
