Thank You, Father, for Your never-ending love! When the world gets crazy, I find my peace in You.
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I take great joy in seeing birds at the feeders out my office windows! As I’ve mentioned before I regularly see Cardinals, Yellow and Purple Finches, Red-breasted, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, Juncos, Nuthatches, and many more. But the ones I absolutely cannot stand are the Starlings!
When I first identified one for my mother-in-law, she thought they were beautiful, a juvenile’s coloring makes it look almost lacy. With their iridescent feathers, they do have a certain beauty but…they don’t belong here. They just take over when they are around. They inhale the seed I put out and scare the other birds away!
In the early 1890s, Eugene Schieffelin released 100 European Starlings into New York City’s Central Park. His goal, as a part of the American Acclimatization Society, was to introduce all the birds mentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare to North America. He didn’t realize how invasive they would become. It is estimated that there are now over 200 million of them in North America.
So, is this just one of my “soap boxes”? Really, I do have a point. Sin and Starlings have something in common. Sin does not belong here! Millenia ago it was brought into our world by the willful actions of the first man and woman – Adam and Eve. And talk about an invasion! Every human being to ever walk upon this earth has been contaminated by it. It takes over our lives! And try as we might, we cannot overcome it…at least not on our own!
That is why Jesus came. Only He did not yield to the temptations of sin and only His sacrifice, paying the penalty of sin – death! – can conquer it once and for all! Only by accepting His gift of salvation from sin can we be victors!
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. 1 John 1:9 NLT
Lord Jesus, help us to eradicate sin which is so pervasive in our world and in our own lives. May we seek Your forgiveness and then be diligent in making others aware of the freedom found only in You. Amen!
Mar 7th, 2019, Thurs, 10:05 am
