Before they were a week old, the eaglets were fighting over food.
Neither was strong enough to hold up his head for more than a few seconds, so
the pair looked like fuzzballs with bobble-heads attached. But whenever the
parents brought food to the nest, the bigger eaglet was quick to peck down his
brother to keep him from getting a single bite. His aggression would have been
understandable if food was scarce, or if the parents couldn’t be trusted to
supply what he needed. But nothing could be further from the truth. The eaglets
were being fed fish many times their size; there was more than enough for both
of them.
The greedy eaglet reminds me of our own foolishness when we try to get
for ourselves something that belongs to someone else (James 4:1-5). Conflicts erupt because we want
something that God has given to a friend, colleague, relative, or neighbor.
Instead of asking God for what we need, we try to get what He’s given to
someone else (v.2). But God has something good for each of us. We don’t need
what belongs to anyone else. And we certainly never need to harm anyone to get
what we need.