By Pastor Don Schatz

A Feeding-the-Birds Lesson

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?“
Matthew 6:26 New Revised Standard Version

“Feed the birds, feed the birds.”  So you know that song from ‘Mary Poppins?’  I enjoy feeding the birds.  I have several feeders in my yard, including two for hummingbirds.  As you can see from the picture, a suet feeder near my back door is a favorite.  Wintertime is perfect for feeding suet.  There are few natural sources of fat for the birds during the cold of winter.  So I, like so many, feed the birds.

It is marvelous to me the way our natural lives and interactions with nature teach us lessons.  Of course, our Lord Jesus used nature, yes even birds, to teach many spiritual lessons.  Including the lesson of today’s scripture.  “Are you not of more value than they?”  The immediate context for Christ’s question in his encouragement is not to worry.  We are in God’s hands.  Look at how God cares even for the birds and provides for them.

Are you not of more value than they?  Yes, it is a rhetorical question.  The Lord God cares for you.  Yes, for you.  Jesus is the ultimate illustration of how much God cares for you.  In John 6 Jesus says that he is the Bread of Life.  “My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.”  God did not withhold his own Son.  So much does he value you.  Are you not of more value than the birds?  Yes indeed!

So I feed the birds.  I like birds.  I like the connection between my bird feeder and Jesus’ words.  I like the connection between feeding the birds with the reminder of how much God values me.  Find a bird feeder today.  Sit and watch.  Sit and recall.  Are you not of more value than the birds to the Lord our God?

Copyright Family of Christ Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado