The Cracked Acorn: Birds

Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? (Matthew 6:26)

I love birds; there’s no other way to say it. I don’t know if I wish I were a bird. There are some things birds can do that we can not do. We can fly into the air, etc., but it has its faults. We have to construct airplanes to do this at a high cost.

For the time, though, please think of how many birds there are in the world and all kinds of them. It is no wonder that Jesus used them as a teaching example. Their needs are taken care of, and they do not worry about tomorrow as we do. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?

One morning, it all came to me in one of the Warrenton parking lots. I had no sooner pulled up and was about to get out of my car than I noticed a sparrow lit and was soon walking about to see if we had left behind a crust of bread. I wondered where he had come from and what hiding place concealed his nest. I assumed that he ‘shopped’ often at all the local McDonalds.

Have you ever heard someone use the term ‘bird brain’? Sure you have. In comparison to us, birds are tiny and therefore do have a little brain. The brain that the birds have is just right and, according to avian studies, puts them on a reasonable scale of intelligence. Birds can see better and learn rapidly to know where to search for food and where the best safe and comfortable housing can be found.

The hymn ALL THINGS BRIGHT AND BEAUTIFUL Each little flower that opens, Each little bird that sings, He made their glowing colors, He made their tiny wings.

Birds are mentioned in at least 93 places in the Bible.

It is unfortunate in our modern society that we overlook the appreciation of the one creature made by God. In our daily rush, we do not have the time to study and observe the many kinds and colors of the birds that fly above us and sometimes impede our way in the world. Many wise people have advised us to stop ‘smell the roses’ and watch the birds because we could learn more about life from them.

As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. (Mark 1:10)

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All four Gospel accounts refer to the baptism of Jesus by John at the Jordan river (Matthew 3:16; Mark 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32). The Luke account says, “And the Holy Spirit came down in a bodily shape, like a dove on Him.” Because the Holy Spirit is just that—Spirit—He is not visible to us. This occasion, however, was a real visual appearance and was doubtless seen by the people.

The dove is an emblem of purity and harmlessness (Matthew 10:16), and the form of the dove was assumed on this occasion to signify that the Spirit with which Jesus would be endowed would be one of purity and innocence.

Another symbol involving the dove comes from the account of the Flood and Noah’s ark in Genesis 6-8. When the earth had been covered with water for some time, Noah wanted to check to see if there was dry land anywhere, so he sent out a dove which came back with an olive branch in her beak (Genesis 8:11). Since that time, the olive branch has been a symbol of peace