You don’t have the sense that God gave to a goose, do you?

“You don’t have the sense that God gave to a goose!” Almost every time I made a mistake growing up, that’s what I heard. So, I started watching geese. I soon realized two things; I LOVE to watch GEESE and geese are not stupid! I have spent many hours watching geese and have read a great deal about why they do what they do. As a pastor and army chaplain, I’ve learned some valuable “goose sense” lessons. I want to share some lessons and how they relate to our lives as believers in Jesus Christ.

GOOSE FACT #1: As each goose flaps its wings, it creates an “updraft” or “updraft” for the birds following it. By flying in a “V” shape, it is estimated that the entire flock can fly 70% farther than if each bird flew alone. A few years ago, while Cheri and I were driving from Maryland to Missouri, we saw hundreds of thousands of geese in flight! The estimate was 750,000 to 900,000 geese! The sky literally went black at noon with massive formations of geese for over ten miles as we drove! It was one of the most AWESOME sights we have ever witnessed! WOW! (Let me say it backwards – WOW!)

GOOSE SENSE LESSON #1: Christian believers share a sense of community and a common bond through Jesus Christ. With a VISION from God, we are able to achieve God’s goals for us much more easily when we “LIFT UP” one another and ride in the momentum of our fellowship. “But you, Timothy, belong to God; so he flees from all these bad things, and follows what is right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and meekness. Fight the good fight for what we believe in. Hold fast to the eternal life that God has given you, which you have so well confessed before many witnesses.” (The Bible, 1 Timothy 6:11-12, Living New Testament). Good common sense means that people do good things for others.

GOOSE FACT #2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying solo. He quickly falls back into formation to harness the lifting power of the rest of the flock and avoid the gusts of wind from all the other fluttering geese. Remember the scene in the movie “Top Gun” when Maverick and Goose (ironic, huh) got caught in their wingman’s “jet wash” and ended up crashing into the sea? It’s the same concept with geese.

GOOSE SENSE LESSON #2: There is a lot more “drag and drag” in the world when trying to FLY alone! We should be willing to let others HELP “carry our load”, and we should be willing to HELP other people carry theirs! Learn how to do “Random Acts of Kindness” for others. Help an old lady to put her shopping in the car. Rake your neighbor’s leaves. Bring dinner to someone who is sick. Offer to babysit a young couple’s children so they can go out at night. Give a restaurant gift certificate to your pastor and his wife. Our oldest daughter had just had twins in ND and we were getting ready to leave MO on our motorcycle when a couple from our church called and said she wanted to buy us plane tickets so we could get there sooner. I planned to say “no” because I was looking forward to the trip, and then he blurted out the “B” word at me. He said, “It would be a tremendous BLESSING for us if we were allowed to do this!” I had to accept then, because I learned a long time ago that “Being a blessing to someone else brings a Blessing to us”. Good common sense means spending good, quality time with other believers. Share Jesus with your loved ones so that your closest family and friends are other believers.

GOOSE FACT #3: When the lead goose doubles, it spins back into formation and another goose immediately flies into the lead position. All the geese, except the sick ones, take their turn at the front of the formation. No fuss, no debate, no arguing, they just do it! It’s part of being a goose!

OCA MEANINGLESS LESSON #3: The ministry of the Church does NOT belong to paid pastors. It is NOT just for Deacons and Elders. Every believer should participate in the ministries of the church. It pays to take turns doing difficult tasks, and it’s good to share leadership responsibilities. As with the geese, we are interdependent on the gifts and talents of others. Furthermore, when our constant goal is for Jesus Christ to receive the credit, the praise, the honor and the glory, it doesn’t matter WHO does the real WORK! See Colossians 3:23-24. Every believer is a follower, a follower of Jesus Christ and of his shepherds in the flock. But every believer is ALSO a leader, based on his spiritual gifts and talents, and it is imperative that he uses those gifts and talents to do good things for the kingdom of God. Good common sense means that believers do good things for the kingdom of God and other kingdom pilgrims.

GOOSE FACT #4: All geese flying in formation “TOUCH” to encourage the geese ahead to “keep going” towards the finish line!

GOOSE SENSE LESSON #4: I IMPLORE YOU to make sure ALL of your “GRACINES” are ENCOURAGED in nature! For THE SAKE OF HEAVEN, for THE SAKE OF THE KINGDOM, EVERY time you talk TO or ABOUT someone else, be sure to say ONLY something GOOD, “EDITALIZING”, CARING and ENCOURAGING! There is no place in the kingdom of God and there is no place in the life of the Christian for gossip, slander, negativism, “not-saying”, backbiting and bringing each other down! “Beloved, if God so loved us, we too should love one another.” HORNS from GROWING congregations are encouraging and “uplifting”! GROWING congregations are JOYFULLY HAPPY congregations! Our individual and collective missions are “to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, the beloved Son of God.” (Romans 8:29). Let’s be “CHEER” HONKERS to one another for the sake of Jesus! Let’s say GOOD SENSE things to each other. Let’s say GOOD SENSE GOOSE things about each other. Good common sense means encouraging one another to “keep going” toward the goal of God’s upward calling prize in Jesus Christ!

GOOSE FACT #5: When a goose gets sick and can’t continue, two other geese drop out of formation and follow to help and protect it. They stay with him until he dies or can fly again. They then launch into another formation or catch up with their herd.

GOOSE SENSE LESSON #5: I’m GLAD God has given believers “Goose Sense!” His word teaches us to support each other, both in difficult times and in good ones. He teaches us to pick each other up when we fall. When relationships fail, when children rebel, when careers fall apart, when bad things happen to good people, when people die too soon, when trouble comes (and eventually comes to all of us), the Word of God has a word for believers. Galatians 6:2 says, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Verses 9-10 remind us: “Therefore let us not tire of doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. So, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, and especially to those of the house of God.” Faith”. Good common sense means sticking together in good times and bad, standing up for one another and standing up for those less fortunate.

GOOSE FACT #6: A pair of geese will meet and mate for life. They live, travel and make babies together until one of them dies. Then the other goose will find another mate, and again a mate for life.

GOOD GOOSE SENSE LESSON #6 Monogamous relationships just make GOOD GOOSE SENSE! First of all, this is how God planned it! (See Genesis 2-3). Second, it prevents a whole plethora of problems, including divorce, sexual sin, broken and blended families, financial burdens, child behavior problems, etc. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying these things don’t exist in monogamous relationships as well, but statistics show that they are more prevalent when people have been in multiple relationships. (And my 34 years of ministry have taught me that “the grass is NOT greener on the other side of the fence!) It is so pleasing to see the growing number of young people in our society choosing to remain abstinent and celibate until marriage – who is definitely a step in the right direction from my generation (being a teenager in the late 60’s and early 70’s during the height of the “sexual revolution”).If you or your young teens are interested, go to True Love Waits on the Internet Good common sense means waiting for the person you know God intends you to spend the rest of your life with, and then spending the rest of your life with that person!

In a nutshell, what does GOOD GOOSE SENSE LESSONS have to say to believers?

Love each other. Pray for each other. Cheer each other on. Being next to each other. Lift each other up. Help each other up and out. Stand up with and for others. Stay the course. Love each other. (I know, I already said it, but it needs to be said twice, right?)

I pray that all believers will listen and practice the lessons of the geese. Do you have the sense that God gave to a goose? You do if you do GOOD SENSE things to each other. They do if they do things with GOOD SENSE for each other. Use your GOOSE GOOD SENSE – you’ll be glad you did!

Danny Presswood, 2006, All rights reserved.

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