Do you enjoy time in nature? How do you feel when you are able to spend time in nature? There are so many things that we can learn from nature. If we really take the time we can “read” and learn so many spiritual lessons. I believe God has given us nature as a second book He can communicate with us through. Just like we should spend time in God’s Word, we should also spend time in nature “reading” it as well.
A friend was sharing with me just recently about a bird’s nest she had been watching. The little eggs and the mother were so cute. She was not sure what kind of bird it was but she enjoyed watching. As the number of eggs increased she noticed that one egg was bigger than all the rest. That was interesting to her but she could not understand why. Finally, the day came when the eggs hatched. She noticed that one of the birds was way larger than the others. The little birds disappeared and all that remained was the big bird. She talked with a friend and that is when she learned something that she did not know. The big egg and big bird were a cowbird. If she would have only realized she could have gotten rid of the large egg and all would have been well.
Cowbirds are not a very pleasant bird. What they do is they lay their egg in another bird’s nest. The mother doesn’t realize the danger. She proceeds to protect and keep her eggs warm. When the birds hatch the cowbird baby takes over and ends up destroying the other babies. The cowbird is so much bigger it ends up taking all the food that comes. He has the big wide-open mouth and the little tiny birds can’t even get past his body to get food to survive. The mother ends up feeding this cowbird baby only. It is a very difficult job for her because the baby is so much bigger than her own babies would have been. She has to work very hard to supply the need.
It makes me think about our lives as a Christian. We learn about God and we begin to lay our “eggs”, prayer, Bible reading, scripture memorization, listening to and doing what God tells us, etc. But somewhere along the way the “Cowbird”, devil, comes along and places something into our lives. He may draw us with what we are eating, watching, listening to, reading, who we spend our time with, etc.
We don’t seem to pay attention to the things that we have gotten caught up in. We are just “sitting” on the “eggs” keeping them warm so that they will hatch. We try to foster all the different things in our lives. A lot of times we even know better but we want to ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit because we are really enjoying ourselves. We argue with ourselves saying, “I am still spending time with God, praying, memorizing scripture, etc. I am okay.
What we don’t notice is that the “big egg”, bad choices, is taking up more of the “nest”, our lives, than the other “small eggs”, the good choices.
Eventually what happens is the “eggs hatch” and the “big bird”, wrong choices, is so strong that it shoves out the “little birds”, good choices, out of our lives. The things that draw us closer to the Lord start to diminish while the things the devil has tempted us with and we have given into, take over.
Whatever “bird” we feed the most grows. If we feed the lust of our flesh it will grow larger and larger. If we feed on the things of God our spiritual lives will grow. It is our choice. We have more power than we think or want to admit. We have the power of choice. God cannot make us choose. Once we choose He can give us the power to overcome.
Dear Father,
Forgive us for being blind to the “large birds” in our lives that are crushing out the “little birds”. We find ourselves many times if we are willing to admit, feeding those things that are displeasing to You. Continue to prompt our hearts to focus on the things of righteousness and to take our focus off the things of this world. Thank You for Your patience with us. Thank You that as we choose Your ways, You give us the power to accomplish Your ways. Thank You for Your promises that we can claim through the hard times.
In Jesus Name,
Amen
Which “bird” are you feeding? Give it some serious thought. Recommit your life to God today.
Love you all.
Do you have a story from nature? What spiritual application did the Lord show you? Share it with us.