Lord, my heart is meek before you. I don’t consider myself better than others.
              I’m content to not pursue matters that are over my head; such as                 your complex mysteries and wonders that I’m not yet ready to understand.
                              I am humbled and quieted in your presence                                                ......from Psalm 131

Once upon a time there was a Leghorn chicken named Claudine. She first came to our farm in South Knoxville when she was three weeks old. She was not the only chick in the family, but her personality was evident from the start. Claudine would be the first one to jump up on the roost, the leader in exploring, and usually the first chick to the feeder.

Claudine was a joy to watch as she grew up. She lost her baby feathers, and eventually her comb and waddle enlarged and became a brighter shade of red. She was slowly maturing; but all those changes took time.

One day Claudine experienced a feeling which she had never felt before. Everything inside her seemed as if it was exploding. As she laid down on the ground she was confused. Then there was a sudden sense of relief. She felt better. As Claudine slowly stood to her feet she looked down!

What was that? Where had that come from? Claudine felt an immense sense of pride and satisfaction. As she stood back and looked at the egg she said to herself, ‘I did that’. She began clucking loudly and all the other young chickens came running in her direction. Claudine watched as they gazed in wonder at the mysterious thing on the ground. Each of them slowly looked up towards her in admiration and awe. That night as she perched on the roost inside the chicken coop she was one proud chick. No one else had ever done what she did.

Her egg was an object of unsurpassed beauty. The more she thought about it the more beautiful it appeared in her mind. It was as stunning as the sunrise in the morning and the blue sky overhead. Over the next few days Claudine developed a look of smugness and an attitude of self importance. She was quite the special chick. She freely strutted her stuff in front of all the others.

Her bright red comb fluttered back and forth as she danced excitedly across the chicken run. Her egg was a glowing testimony to her uniqueness and special ability to produce such a wonderful creation. She took special delight in slowly and deliberately preening her feathers in front of all the others in the flock. Her vanity and big headedness grew each passing day. She addressed the others: “You can just call me ‘The Amazing Claudine’.

The next morning Claudine awoke to the noise of all the other chickens squawking excitedly. They were gathered around one of the Ameraucana chickens named Ruth. As Claudine followed the gazes of the rest of the small flock towards the ground beneath Ruth, she saw what the commotion was about. There was another egg on the ground, and this one was brown.

There was a brown egg on the ground!

Now the chickens in the flock began arguing about whose egg was the prettiest. The two egglayers didn’t get along at all – except to feel superior to all the other chickens who hadn’t begun to lay any eggs.

Can you and I sometimes act like egg-laying chickens? What did they actually do to produce an egg? They were born and created with that ability. Essentially, all they had to do was to eat, sleep, and not get themselves killed. When they reached the age to begin laying eggs the result simply occurred. They were graciously allowed to participate in the process but weren’t the originators. Claudine was a small part of the process, but not the star of the show.

“Saving is all God’s idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving.” ………from the Book of Ephesians