Chicken, the Egg-Sitting Rooster
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might… Ecclesiastes 9:10 (NIV)
There are just some things I’ve never heard of—like an egg-sitting rooster but Devon O’Day shares a story in All God’s Creatures that is worth reading. What are you doing with your purpose?
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Chicken was given his name by two little boys who raised him. He was the sweetest rooster I have ever met—and beautiful too. His feathers flowed more like hair than feathers, all white and black speckled with a red comb that stood proudly. He loved being held and was never, ever aggressive toward people or other chickens. That’s truly rare among roosters.
He was also different because Chicken was a rooster—with purpose. He made it his job to watch over and guard the eggs laid by the hens so they could go out and free-range for food without leaving their eggs to get cold or to be unprotected. He took his job seriously yet remained very gentle. When little Diane, the tiniest hen, laid her first egg, she climbed in the nesting box beside him and laid her egg right next to him. When she got up to leave her nest, Chicken used his wing to sweetly move the egg into a safe spot beneath him. I have never seen a rooster do that before or since.
When the other roosters were mean to Chicken, he simply left the confrontation and went back to his nest. I guess when you have purpose, you have no interest in wasting precious moments in situations that are negative and energy-depleting.
This really affected me as I looked back on all the time I have wasted through the years trying to convince someone of my value, instead of just doing the things that brought value to my life. When I began to put my purpose into action, the meaningless drama had no space in which to take root in my life. Filling my days with positive actions, positive words, and positive responses to God’s call in me changed everything about my perception of life and the perception others had of me.
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We have the opportunity to stand out in the crowd today. Let’s all strut for Jesus!
God, keep my hands busy so that I don’t stay busy with the drama of others. AMEN.