First thing, Father, I so want to express my appreciation for Your being “an ever present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) You show Your love and care even in the midst of things that others might deem small and insignificant. All praise to You, my loving Shepherd!
Matthew 12:43-45 (<<click here)
I’ve mentioned before that I really enjoy bird watching. In the last couple of years, our feeders have attracted bluebirds, which are absolutely stunning! Now we haven’t set up any birdhouses for them but they have found a home somewhere in our area for we’ve had at least two pairs of them around this winter.
One thing about setting up bluebird houses is that it’s hard to keep them empty for bluebirds – house sparrows like them, too. Now house sparrows are not native to the Americas but were introduced in the 1850’s to control the ravages of the linden moth. (Who knew?) Those who maintain bluebird houses have to regularly check them to remove sparrow nests.
In today’s passage, Lord, You speak of keeping our “homes” clean. When we come in to contact with You, our “homes” are “empty, swept, and in order.” But we must be diligent in filling them with You. If we are not diligent things that are not “native” to our “homes”, things that our “homes” were not created for, will attempt to move in. And where we may have been bad off before Your arrival, we may very well be “worse off” in that entities in opposition to You will be that much more determined to make sure that we avoid any future encounters with You. The devil and his cohorts want us to suffer with them for their “doom is sure” (to quote Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress).
Lord Jesus, fill every part of me with You – every nook and cranny! May there be absolutely no place that the devil can get a foothold. May I be so full of You that in my daily journeys that You actually spill out, dousing those around me. Soak them through! May it be so – Amen!
Apr 21st, 2018, Sat, 6:11 am
