“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 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 6:25-26 ESV).
I love watching birds. We have a bird feeder hanging just outside our breakfast nook window. And I’ve developed a habit of drinking my morning coffee at our breakfast table while reading the Bible, praying and bird watching.
We spend so much time worrying about what we will eat, drink or what we will wear. We’re bombarded with constant commercials for things we didn’t even know we needed, but now we’re sure that we do. So, we worry about how to get those things too. We place so much value on material things that we forget to enjoy what really matters.
Often my morning concerns are more for temporary material things, than for eternal spiritual ones. Yet, reading and meditating on God’s Word moves me to stop my worry and to turn that same internal self-talk into God-talk, into prayer. This morning, as I read and prayed, I noticed the great variety of birds appearing outside my window. And I thought of what Jesus said about the Heavenly Father feeding them.
Of course, one of the ways that God feeds them is through me. I buy the seed and keep the feeder full for the sheer joy of seeing the birds that God has created.
If God loves and values birds so much, just consider how much He loves and values us. I recommend a morning combination of Bible reading and bird watching. It really helps me remember how much God values me. And how much I can trust and value (worship) Him.