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He Watches Sparrows

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Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Matthew 10:29

bird sparrow

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In Jesus’ day sparrows were common and held value only for what brief use anyone might have of them. Sometimes I have wondered, why Jesus tells us that God watches sparrows. After all God is everywhere and He also watches eagles, lions and even alligators (We have 1.3 million of them in Florida)! But unlike animals with talons, claws and teeth, sparrows have no offensive weapons. Instead their only hope is that in the moment of danger they will fly to safety. 

Have you ever felt like a sparrow? Apparently many of Jesus’ listeners did. They had been oppressed by Romans, exploited by their own religious leaders and despised by the rich. But when Jesus came they hung on His every word because He was someone who loved to spend time with them and who invited them to come to Him. Have you ever considered that God also loves spending time with you so much that He sent His own Son with the invitation to share eternity with Him. That is an invitation without an expiration date because the God who watches sparrows also He watches you and me.

Run over anyone’s mailbox lately?

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And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.   Matthew 22:39

Our neighbors may know we go to church but they also know see how we clean our house and what laundry we hang out on the line! As God’s children we need to act in loving ways to all kinds of people at all kinds of unexpected times.

Long ago when I worked on a tree trimming crew our practice was to eat our lunch in the truck on the job site. So one day while we were clearing along  a narrow road at lunch I pulled the truck off to the side as far as I could in order to allow cars to pass. When it was time to get back to work, I started up the truck and began to pulling forward when I suddenly heard a loud crunch. Slamming on the brakes and jumping out I discovered that I had run over someone’s mailbox.

Kevin, my co-worker was doubled over with laughter, “You’re in trouble now Pete!” he said with glee. I was frustrated and embarrassed but humbly I walked up the driveway, knocked on the door of the house.  What a relief it was that the lady who owned the mailbox was understanding and accepted my apology as well as my offer to come back to fix it after work.

When I got back to the truck Kevin had stopped laughing and as I started to pick up my tools to return to work he turned and said, “Now I really believe you are a Christian!”  It wasn’t too long after that when Kevin gave his heart to the Lord. So if we want to love our neighbor as ourselves  sometimes, apologizing for running over their mailbox is  the best way!

Taking Advantage

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Taking advantage of an opportunity sometimes goes down the wrong staircase. What begins as a bright possibility sometimes steps down to focusing on our own goals and forgetting people around us. From there sadly it is not such a giant leap to gently manipulating friends to get what we want. But Jesus, who had the closest friendship with the very highest friend, never once pulled strings for His own advantage. Instead He humbled Himself and yielded His life for us.

We will never find freedom to be who He has called us to be till we cease looking to get ahead and simply serve those he sends us to. Remembering all that He gave up to come to our rescue how can we do less for Him?