The Foolish Bird — a poignant parable related by Elder David A. Bednar
Elder David A. Bednar related the following parable: The story is told about a bird and a man. The man asked the bird if he wanted to make an agreement with him. The agreement was this: the man would bring a worm to the bird every day and in return for this delicious meal, the bird would give him one of his feathers. The bird, knowing that he had many feathers, thought that this would be a great idea — he would not have to work to feed himself. So day after day the man would bring a big fat worm to the bird and the bird would pluck out one of his feathers, gladly giving it to the man. The bird soon realized that his feathers were getting thin but he loved the big juicy worms that the man would bring him. The bird loved the fact that with no effort on his part, he was being well-fed. The bird was getting fat and lazy but bird considered himself lucky and clever! One day the man brought the worm and the bird had no feathers left to give. Being fat and featherless, the man easily took the bird captive and soon the bird made a delicious dinner for the man!! Elder Bednar said that we could all see how foolish the bird was from the start, but the bird delighted in the easy way and gave away the very things that made him free! That’s what we do when we make a foolish sacrifice for sinful acts. We slowly give our freedom to him who desires so much to take our freedom away and who will spiritually devour us in the end!
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