For the birds! (Providence (3))
When we pay lip service to Providence then everything depends on us and then we should be VERY worried.But we have a God who feeds the birds and clothes the lilies!
I think it is the song of birds that makes them so special!
While birds look for food, feed their young, and build nests there is not the frantic desperation that is the characteristic of many human beings. Amongst birds there are only a few who are lazy (like cuckoos). The rest are industrious and active. Jesus was not advocating sitting back and doing nothing. There is a lot of contentment and meaning to be gained from a good day's work.
Jesus concern is that human beings suffer from the disease of discontentment. We always want more. We barely attain one gadget, vehicle, or house when we fix our eyes on the next desirable. Worry about our stuff consumes us and quality of life disappears. We don't enjoy what we have and what God provides in such abundance. We rush past sunrises and sunsets and zoom past the love of our family and loved ones while we chase things that are not permanent.
Birds have learnt to enjoy the moment and have learned the secret of contentment: Their song is often heard as they bask in the morning sun and they take the most incredible pleasure in the sprinkler on the lawn on a hot summer's day. It is terribly unfortunate when we become so obsessed with collecting, earning, and hoarding that we have forgotten how to play and sing.
| Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn't there more to life than food and more to the body than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the sky: they do not sow, or reap, or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you more valuable than they are? "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? 31 So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. (Matthew6:25-32) |
