Are You Like the Headless Chicken?

Are You Like the Headless Chicken?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all
things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:15-18 NKJV


No one has ever seen God, they say. But Jesus said in John 14:9 "He who as seen Me has seen the Father". Jesus Christ is God - He is the image of the invisible God, who reigns over all creation. He gave us His Spirit to confirm that truth in us. John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

Before anything was created, Jesus was there, with God and was God. John 1:1-4 describes Jesus this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Lord was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Everything exists by Him, meaning He holds it all together and for Him, meaning all of this is for His pleasure.

I once saw a television program that was doing a story about a headless chicken. There was this farmer, who went to collect a chicken for dinner. He proceeded to cut of it's head, but the chicken squirmed out of the farmer's hand and ran around. The chicken, no joke, lived for more tha two weeks without a head! How can this be? They had footage of the chicken being hand feed by pouring the food down it's throat! Yikes! My apologies if this is too graphic, but it's a great illustration. Can a body function with out a head? Not usually.

How often do we, as Christians, operate like the chicken without a head? By that I mean, we squirm out of our Lord's hands and want to do things our way instead of His way. Now, with the chicken it only lived a shorted while. What would happen if we chose to disconnect from the head? How long would we last?

There are plenty of pictures of this principle in scripture. Let's look at
just three.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.� Can a branch cut off from the vine survive? No, it withers and dies over several days.
Psalm 1:3 "He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper." Can a tree survive without water? Of course not. Given plenty of water it produces fruit. The same can be said for the Christian and God's Word.
Romans 12:5 "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." We are described as a ember of the body, just like we have a hand or foot or a kidney (for that matter) in our physical body.

If we are the body, who is the head you might ask? Jesus Christ is the head of the body of Christ. So let us remember to hold fast to the Head as said in Colossians 2:18-20 "...holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God."

Are you holding fast to Christ the head? If not, why?
 
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or
powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all
things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:15-18 NKJV


No one has ever seen God, they say. But Jesus said in John 14:9 "He who as seen Me has seen the Father". Jesus Christ is God - He is the image of the invisible God, who reigns over all creation. He gave us His Spirit to confirm that truth in us. John 16:13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

Before anything was created, Jesus was there, with God and was God. John 1:1-4 describes Jesus this way: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Lord was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." Everything exists by Him, meaning He holds it all together and for Him, meaning all of this is for His pleasure.

I once saw a television program that was doing a story about a headless chicken. There was this farmer, who went to collect a chicken for dinner. He proceeded to cut of it's head, but the chicken squirmed out of the farmer's hand and ran around. The chicken, no joke, lived for more tha two weeks without a head! How can this be? They had footage of the chicken being hand feed by pouring the food down it's throat! Yikes! My apologies if this is too graphic, but it's a great illustration. Can a body function with out a head? Not usually.

How often do we, as Christians, operate like the chicken without a head? By that I mean, we squirm out of our Lord's hands and want to do things our way instead of His way. Now, with the chicken it only lived a shorted while. What would happen if we chose to disconnect from the head? How long would we last?

There are plenty of pictures of this principle in scripture. Let's look at
just three.
John 15:5 "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.� Can a branch cut off from the vine survive? No, it withers and dies over several days.
Psalm 1:3 "He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper." Can a tree survive without water? Of course not. Given plenty of water it produces fruit. The same can be said for the Christian and God's Word.
Romans 12:5 "For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another." We are described as a ember of the body, just like we have a hand or foot or a kidney (for that matter) in our physical body.

If we are the body, who is the head you might ask? Jesus Christ is the head of the body of Christ. So let us remember to hold fast to the Head as said in Colossians 2:18-20 "...holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God."

Are you holding fast to Christ the head? If not, why?

Thinko,

Do you really know what you are talking about, or are you just kinda speculating about things you find in the Bible ... ?

You said, "We squirm out of the Lord's hands and want to do things our way instead of His way."

Who is this "We" you claim to either represent, or are in a group with?

Can you give specific examples of this "squirm out" behavior which you personally have done, or you know about these friends of yours doing?

Are you familiar with the phrase "Churchy Sounding Aphorism?"

JoWilli.
 
Sorry you didn't care for that one

JoWillie,
You may not like everything you read from me. That's okay. Please don't take offend. If something I write causes you to think about your own actions, great, it did what it was supposed to. If you don't fit with the analogy, then good for you! However, I've know others who did like the comparison.

I was only trying to say that I (and most everyone I know) struggle at times with deciding to do things our way rather than God's way. When we choose our way, it's like refusing to be part of the body - hence the without a head bit.

Christ is our head. We are nothing without Him.

I hope this doesn't sour your experience in reading further devotions. Take care.
 
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