Do you have a bird feeder near your window? Have you noticed the birds only feed at certain times? Our neighbor has a feeder that we can see from our dining room, and we notice that the birds usually come to feed at our mealtime.
Chickadees come zipping in from all directions. But when two large pigeons arrive, the chickadees and other little birds disappear. The pigeons, which are large birds, have learned how to get the food by balancing themselves on the swinging feeder. One perches on one side and the other perches on the opposite side. By flapping their wings, they can hang on and get some food.
Last year our own feeder was hanging on a branch of a tree near our window. We noticed that the birds didn’t come to feed like they used to, and we wondered why. One day we found cat tracks in the snow below the feeder, and another day we saw a long, slinky furry body hanging from the tree and reaching into the feeder. It was a gray squirrel. No wonder the birds wouldn’t come! Two enemies had found the feeder! One was looking for birds to catch, and the other was looking for favorite seeds to eat and dumped most of the food on the ground.
You know, boys and girls, there is sometimes more than one reason why we don’t feed on the Word of God. Satan, our enemy, doesn’t want us to read the Bible. He wants us to feed on other things so we lose our appetite for the Word of God. It’s easy to make time for those other things, but we need to make time to read and pray every day to make us healthy Christians. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:1616Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. (Jeremiah 15:16)). “O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him” (Psalm 34:88O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him. (Psalm 34:8)).
ML-06/28/1998