Lessons from a Bird Feeder
I have no idea what the weather will be like when this is posted and when you are reading these words. I’m typing these words on December 24, 2022. As you may remember if you live anywhere close to Paducah, Kentucky, as I am typing this, there is snow on the ground and the temperature is in the teens. It seems that those who wish for a white Christmas will have that wish granted this year.
That fact has made the bird feeder outside of our sunroom very popular all of a sudden. For quite some time, Donna and I have sort of lamented the fact that we haven’t had any “customers” at the feeder.
It has not always been that way. I used to fill up the feeder on a fairly regular basis. We would then enjoy watching our feathered friends as they made another filling necessary.
For some reason unknown to us, the same food has been in the feeder for quite a long time. We wondered if the birds found “a better menu” elsewhere, had all just decided to be somewhere other than our neighborhood, or had stopped “visiting us” for some other reason. The fact that we have seen a hawk hanging around may have something to do with all of this
For whatever reason, the birds are back. Maybe it is because their options are limited. I have no idea why they are back, but I’m glad they are.
I kind of doubt that birds have emotions. If they did, though, they would probably be grateful today that a supply of nourishment they once took for granted and seemed to have ignored is still there now that they really need it.
The fact that I’m sitting and watching various kinds of birds benefit from the food in our feeder coupled with the fact that the food is always available causes me to wonder if I’m not watching how some of us treat God. Do we remember Him only when it seems that there is nowhere else to go? Are the dark, dreary, cold, challenging days in our lives the only times He seems relevant?
If that is the case, maybe we need to remember these (and other) truths about the One, as the song says “from whom all blessings flow”:
…Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:
But in every nation he that feareth Him,
and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him (Acts 1:34-35, KJV)
My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.
He will not suffer thy foot to be moved.
He that keepeth thee will not slumber (Ps. 121:1-3, KJV)
So, while Donna and our daughter are in the kitchen preparing food for the arrival of the rest of our family, they are probably thinking that I’m just being lazy and taking it easy. They have no idea that I’m learning some valuable lessons from some birds and considering my relationship with God.
AUTHOR: Jim Faughn
