Don’t be stiff-necked!

My fiancé (oh how I absolutely love using that title!!!!) and I were invited to a friend’s house last night for dinner.  Dinner was outside in their beautifully manicured garden.  While enjoying the surroundings, Jeff (my fiancé!!!) noticed a barred owl perched in a tree not too far away.

The owl was stunning and so captivating to watch.  Its eyes were the one feature that captured my attention and the way it turned its head gracefully 270 degrees was so cool!  As I watched the owl, I felt the Lord say, “Don’t be stiff-necked.”  Hmm… what does that mean?

  

Here’s what I learned about the owl.

Eyes - The owl’s large and forward facing eyes can account for one to five percent of its body weight.  The forward facing aspect of the eyes gives the owl its "wise" appearance, and also give it a wide range of "binocular" vision which means an owl can see objects in 3 dimensions (height, width, and depth), and can judge distances in a similar way to humans.  The field of view for an owl is about 110 degrees, with about 70 degrees being binocular vision.

Neck – Although the owl has binocular vision, they have fixed eye sockets so they must move their heads in order to see their surroundings.  The tissue and blood vessels as well as having multiple vertebrae in the owl’s neck are designed to flex smoothly giving the species a full range of motion.  The owl has the ability to turn its head smoothly up to 270 degrees left or right and almost upside down as well. 

The wide range of head & neck motion and as well as binocular vision is critical for survival as it helps the owl survey the landscape for both predators as well as prey.

Now let’s get back to hearing the Lord say, “Don’t be sniff-necked.”

What does it mean to be stiff-necked in scripture?  It refers to being obstinate and difficult, refusing to turn the head in order to take a different path.  God used this analogy because every Israelite understood the frustration of trying to direct an ox that was being stiff-necked.  Think of plowing a field or moving a chart when an ox refuses to go in the direction the master wants – an ox that refused to be directed was useless to its master.  In a nutshell, a stiff-necked ox was a disappointment in that it would not perform the task it was designed to perform.  Ouch! 

Why was the Israelite’s stiff-necked?  They were stubborn, disobedient.  They didn’t have God’s vision.  They were not willing to let the Lord lead them.  They were not flexible to the Lord’s leading.  When God’s chosen people refused to love Him, honor Him, and obey Him, they were not living the purpose for which God chose them to perform.  God made His will clear to the Israelites, and their disobedience is rightly referred to as being stiff-necked and hard-hearted.

Lord, give me binocular eyesight.  Help me to see things as you see them.  I don’t want to be stiff-necked but instead I want to be flexible like the owl that gracefully moving its head so that you can lead me in new directions.  Father, give me a wide range of “motion” and 3 dimensional vision to survey the “landscape” of life so that I just don’t survive but thrive in your will.

Food for thought - What are you being stiff-necked about?  Where is the Lord trying to direct you?  What areas of your life are being restricted because you have a narrow view and need a wider range of vision?  Ask the Lord to you a 3 dimension vision for His plans for your life.  Ask Him to give you the ability to gracefully turn your “head” in the direction he leads you towards.  Oh may we have His vision.

By Thou my vision,

O Lord of my heart

Naught be all else to me,

Save that Thou art.

Thou my best thought,

By day or by night,

Waking or sleeping,

Thy presence my light.