Beware of the Birds - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) April 16, 2024

Arguably, almost everyone on the planet has seen a bird at one time or another. Many of us are fortunate to hear birds tweet as we wake in the morning. Some even have birds as pets. Like every other creature or thing made by the Lord, they exist for His pleasure. Birds are also mentioned several times in the Bible. There is the dove that returned to Noah's ark with an olive leaf in Genesis 8. That was an indicator that the global flood was truly over and there was dry land somewhere. Then there are the ravens that fed Elijah in the wilderness (1 Kings 17). God used them to ensure His servant did not go hungry. And of course, there is the dove - the embodiment of the Holy Spirit - that descended on Christ during His water baptism in the Jordan River (Matthew 3).

These examples show birds as having a positive connotation in the Bible. However, some birds are negatively portrayed in the Word of God. And we need to pay attention to the lessons they contain for believers.

Consider the birds that attempted to eat Abraham's sacrifice in Genesis 15. God had promised to give the very land Abraham was traveling through - a foreign land - to his descendants. Stunned, Abraham questioned how such would be possible and we are told in Genesis 15:9 - So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abraham obeyed, preparing the animals for sacrifice. However, some birds tried to destroy what he had done for the Lord. Genesis 15:11 - Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.

​Another example of birds doing something negative in the Bible involves the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8. Jesus taught His disciples that there would be different types of people they would meet as they evangelized. One such group is described in Luke 8:5 - A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. Here, the birds signified tools used by the devil to prevent God's word from taking root in people. A person is thereby left empty instead of experiencing a deepening in their relationship with the Almighty.

As we can see, some 'birds' are used by satan to prevent a person's progress with the Lord. In the case of Abraham, they arrived to steal what he had presented to God. The animals he'd sacrificed were his part of an agreement that would ultimately bless his generations. Had he neglected to chase the birds away, he would have failed to produce what God had asked him for. And billions would have suffered the consequence, including Christians who according to Romans 11 have been grafted onto the vine of Abraham's family through Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

And as for the birds from the Parable of the Sower, they were also sent for an evil purpose. Unlike in the case of Abraham, they succeeded in stealing the seed - salvation - before it could send out shoots and benefit the person who was to be blessed. And this can adversely impact countless others because Christians are called to share the good news. Therefore when the seeds of salvation are stolen, the person they were stolen from might never have the impact they were to have on others.

As noted above, birds, like everything else, were created for His pleasure. However, we now understand that certain birds are sent to steal, kill, and destroy by the enemy of God. Mark 4:18-19 gives some insight into what these dangerous birds look like in a person's life,. They are "the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." The 'birds' can therefore be the troubles of life, an ungodly attitude toward riches, as well as other desires such as the intense need for fame.

Nevertheless, we Christians need not fear the evil 'birds' seeking to derail us. As long as we obey God's instructions and study His Word, we will be empowered through His Holy Spirit and the name of His Son to keep them at bay. They will have no way to peck at our sacrifices of good works, intercession, praise, meditation, service, and worship to the Lord. And they will be unable to take God's blessing and His word from us.