MANY who read these lines have watched the birds building their nests in the spring time.
Last spring two English sparrows built a nest in among the crosspieces of a telephone pole which stood near my kitchen window.
It was very interesting to watch the m day after day, bringing straw and other materials to this sheltered spot. The pieces they brought often dropped out or blew away, but the birds worked patiently on, preparing their home for the little young birds.
In our picture the nest is not on a telephone pole, but down in the tall grass where it will not be quickly or easily found—safe from harm.
The mouths of the young birds are open, eager to seize the worm which the mother bird has just brought in her mouth. Perhaps one little bird will get all of the worm, but do not think the mother will let the others go hungry. She will find another worm and bring it to another bird. Then away she will fly again and return with more food. Nor does she forget as she goes back and forth, which of her little ones have been fed. She feeds them by turn, till all have enough.
A little distance away, some men are watching this interesting sight, which is instructive, if we are willing to learn the lesson it teaches.
We, like the little birds, need food for our bodies, but we need food for our souls also. Can you tell me what this food is? I think some of you will answer, “The Word of God.” Yes, dear children, God gives us in His blessed Word, the Bible, the food that makes us grow more like Him—the food that makes us “grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”
And we need this food very much. We need it every day. If we do not get it, our souls will starve, and instead of learning more about Jesus and growing more like Him, we will be looking for pleasures in this wicked world and trying to find our happiness in them. In seeking such pleasures we can only get into sin.
Just as the mother bird has food for each little bird, and does not forget one, so God, in His Word gives food for each one of us. The more we seek, the more we will find. We need never starve, for there is always plenty there if we will only take it.
“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word.”
When we are feeding upon Christ, we are getting that which keeps us from evil.
Let us not starve our souls when this spiritual food is within our reach, —offered so freely and in such great abundance.
ML 09/13/1903