Spring is the season of new life. The flowers are blooming, and the gardens will be producing a new crop. If you stop and listen for a moment, you’ll hear the constant commotion of the birds as they trumpet spring’s arrival. If I had to live outside all winter, I would be doing some extra celebrating of spring, too.
Our little winged friends are amazing! Isaiah 16:2 speaks of “a wandering bird thrown out of the nest,” and while the thought of mother birds gleefully tossing their young overboard sticks in our minds, the meaning of the verse hinges on the word “wandering.” The NASB likely comes closer to the real meaning, “Then, like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings, the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon.” It does bring to mind, however, the tactics that birds use to get the youngsters out on their own. Doves, for instance, are known to simply stop feeding them when they are old enough to leave the nest. What a shock that would be to the little ones. “I thought it would be this way for the rest of my life!”
If you’ve been outside much at this time of year, you’ve probably encountered dead baby birds. More than likely, it was because they were blown out in a storm. Nevertheless, I’ve always had this urge when I saw a baby bird “wandering” away to say, “Get back in the nest!”
God compares the nest to a home with Him in His temple in Psalm 84:1-4. We are very fortunate to always have this spiritual home available to us. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches” (Matthew 13:31-32 NKJV). God wants us to make our home with Him. You won’t find a more comfortable and secure place!
The South Stokes Church of Christ invites you to join them May 15 for our fiftieth anniversary Homecoming and Friends Day. God doesn’t want you to be aimlessly wandering through life. Get back in the nest! You’ll be glad you did.
Jeff Greene, minister for the South Stokes Church of Christ