David received a parrot for his birthday. This parrot was fully grown with a bad attitude and worse vocabulary. Every other word was an expletive. Those that weren’t expletives were, to say the least, rude.

David tried hard to change the bird’s attitude and was constantly saying polite words, playing soft music, anything he could think of, but nothing worked. He yelled at the bird, the bird got worse. he shook the bird and the bird got madder and ruder.

Finally, in a moment of desperation, David put the parrot in the freezer. For a few moments he heard the bird squawking and kicking and screaming and then, suddenly, there was quiet. David was frightened that he might have actually hurt the bird and quickly opened the door.

The parrot calmly stepped out onto David’s extended arm and said, “I’m sorry that I might have offended you with my language and actions and ask for your forgiveness. I will endeavor to correct my behavior.”

David was surprised at the bird’s change in attitude and was about to ask what had changed him when the parrot said, “May I ask what the chicken did?”

Sometimes seeing God discipline someone else is a wakeup call for us. When has that happened to you?

Tags: discipline, Parrot