Once when I was a teenager, I was walking thru the woods when I saw movement in the bushes. Upon checking it out, to my surprise, it ws a red tailed hawk lying next to a gallberry bush. Every once in a while he would move as if trying to get up bus he couldn’t.

Inquisitive me went over and picked him up by the tip of his wing only to discover that he was attached to the bush by a good sized black snake.

Apparently, this hawk was looking for dinner and picked up a prey a little too biy and the snake managed to wrap himself around the hawks wings so he couldn’t fly. Then he wrapped around the gallberry bush to make sure they weren’t going up in the sky. I’m not sure which one would have one this contest but the hawk sure did seem mighty weak.

This beautiful lmajestic bird had thought he was the hunter but ultimately became the hunted.

We are so like this hawk. Having our own free will we can soar above the earth, looking down on the beauty of God’s creation. When we see such beauty, the natural urge that wells up within us is that we want to possess it. God puts beauty all around us to be enjoyed, not possessed. The Grand Tetons or the Swiss Alps, a sunrise or sunset on the beach all dressed in reds and pink. How about a full moon over a lake with that silvery trail of light rippled across the water. I love hearing the sound of a waterfall cascading down through a pristine forest of evergreens and watching the water swirl around huge boulders on its way to the sea.

There is not enough time or space to describe all the beautiful places, animals or people God has put here for us to enjoy. The thing is, we don’t have to possess them to enjoy them. This came to me so clearly once on a leisurely boat ride around Lake Lanier. So many beautiful places to enjoy and I didn’t have to pay taxesor do the upkeep on any of them!

Enjoy what God has set before you and don’t get caught up trying to possess something that you should just enjoy.