My
wife and I recently celebrated our 40th anniversary with our
children and grandchildren. Our son-in-law Dave had purchased some neat kites
and the grandkids were excited to try their hand at flying the kites. Occasionally
someone would get careless and didn’t hold tightly to the string and a sudden
gust of wind would dislodge the kite. The kite sailed along for a short while
but then plummeted to earth. I was reminded of a time years earlier flying a
kite with our oldest son, Jon. His kite, too, got away from him because he
hadn’t held tightly to the string. I recalled how chagrined he was as we
watched his kite sail away and then fall to the earth. Since it was at dusk we
weren’t able to locate the kite that evening but I noted some reference points
that helped us locate the kite the next morning.
There
are some lessons of life we can learn from flying kites. First of all a kite
needs an anchor to fly – without an anchor the kite will drift and then crash.
This is true in life as well. A life without an anchor is one that is headed
for disaster. The Bible instructs us that we need an anchor of faith that will
hold us steady and allow us to sail freely through the winds of adversity. That
anchor is to be found in the person of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul says that
“…we have fixed our hope on the living
God who is the Saviour of all men, especially of those who believe.” (1
Timothy 4:10 NASB)
Eugene
Peterson in The Message paraphrases Hebrews 6:18-19 this way: “We who have run for our very lives to God
have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go.
It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to
the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his
permanent post as high priest for us… “
A
faith that is anchored in the person of Jesus Christ will lead to a life of
hope and assurance and true freedom. Some people think that freedom is freedom
from restraint. But when the kite is “freed” from the restraining hand of the
kite-flyer – the kite momentarily seems to be truly free – and does sail on for
a short while, but without the restraining anchor the kite soon crashes to the
ground. Rather than restricting me the anchor of faith is what holds me and
guides me away from disaster. I have the reality and assurance of His presence
and help. Our hope, the biblical writer says, is “sure and steadfast” allowing
us to sail through the gusts of life.
A
second lesson I learned while flying a kite is that reference points are
important. Without a reference point I have no sense of direction. I’m lost.
Reference points help to chart the correct path. God’s Word promises to be “a lamp to our feet and a light to our
path.” (Psalm 119:105) God’s Word gives us direction helping us to live
right, talk right and behave right.
A
third lesson I learned while flying a kite was that spending time doing things
with your children and grandchildren and listening to them is important.
Children long to do things with their parents and especially with their dads.
It’s a sad commentary on our society that so few dads care to spend time with
their children. You can learn a lot from children when you spend time with them
and listen to them.
