On this pleasant fall day one large tree was full of noisy black birds. I didn’t see many of them; they were hiding in the leaves. But then all at once they all flew out and decided to rest on the old abandon telephone wires.
How the black birds love to gather together. What a grand reunion.
About a week ago a brave mother Robin did all she could to fight off a large hawk. It looked like a Red-Tailed hawk–very large.
I saw it in my living rook window. I immediately thought, Oh no the baby birds. So I ran to the window and scared it away. I looked down at the Robin’s nest to discover that there was only two babies in the nest. The hawk must have carried the other two off. Then a couple hours later, while I was working in another room, I heard a commotion and birds chirping. I went to the living room window to discover that the nest was empty. Too late! The chicks were gone.
Then I saw her. The mother Robin was near by perched on a tall dead tree stump. I thought, she must be devastated. I saw her quite often when she was sitting on the eggs and also after the chicks were hatched–sitting on them and guarding them. So we knew each other–sort of.
She looked so torn up and beaten up. She stayed around the empty nest for hours sulking over her lost chicks. I felt so bad. I haven’t seen her for over a week now. I wonder how she is. Will she come back to the old nest and try again? I hope not. it’s too dangerous.
So long my friend! Get well.
Looking around for nature’s best,
God’s best.
It lifts my spirit
when I see His masterworks,
a great delight to my soul.
I’m seeing more birds now. Robins are the easiest to photograph. But those little yellow birds are impossible. They fly away so fast. I’ve got a Robin nest on my living room window sill–with little chicks in it. Most of the time she is sitting on the chicks keeping them warm. I hope all the chicks make it. The weather here in Minnesota is colder than average, but not too bad.
Our text for this blog is Matthew 6:25-30, where Jesus is giving a sermon to His followers.
Matthew 6:25-30
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
For many, food, drink, and clothing are the whole of their life. It is all they think about. And the world is doing its best to get us to live on that level. But Jesus has said that we should not be anxious about those things. And He points out two things in nature that will help us in that area—birds and flower.
BIRDS
Jesus said, “Look at the birds of the air [Look at and think about them].”
Let’s look at the birds and all humans, how God provides for them.
Birds: They do nothing to provide for themselves, yet God provides for them.
Humans: They have to sow and reap and gather for themselves, but then God alone will give the increase.
In both cases God provides. And though man must enter into the process (sowing, reaping and gathering), it is God alone who ultimately provides for man, because He makes it rain and He makes the crops grow.
Now let’s look at the argument from the standpoint of a Christian.
If we reason these things out with ourselves, this will defeat anxiety and worry in us. If we realize that because He provides for the birds, He will most certainly provide for us even more, because we are His beloved children.
When you really see yourselves as His child, you should know that He will care for you. Maybe this is your problem. That you forget (or you don’t think about the fact) that you are His child and He loves you as His own.
FLOWERS
Flowers do nothing! Even birds have to look around for worms and seeds to eat; but flowers do nothing. And God makes them grow and look beautiful. He gives them the sun and the rain.
Have you noticed how flowers always face the sun? You may notice how in the evening they will bend way over to continue to look into the sun. We could learn a lesson in that.
If we look at (and think about) the flowers, we see the hand of God, His perfect creation, the glory of His creation. The flowers are perfectly clothed by God and are dependent on God for everything they need to keep living and to look good.
If God our Father so clothes the flowers with such beauty that last only a little while (a few months) will He not cloth us His children whom He loves and that lasts forever?
There is a special place where I like to walk because there are so many birds around chirping in the large trees. You can’t see them but you can sure hear them chirping happily. All at once they decided to leave the tree. They flew all together in a very large flock and landed on some old electrical wires. I’m not even sure they were connected. So many birds; I counted just over one-hundred of them. They sure seem to be a social animal. They like to just hang out together.
Stephen Nielsen 