The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
….He delights in every detail of their lives.
Though they stumble, they will never fall,
….for the Lord holds them by the hand. Psalm 37:23-24 NLT

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One of the tell-tale signs of spring’s arrival, at least in our area, is the arrival of the Red-winged Blackbirds. I have seen them for a few weeks now and in fact, saw one on the remains of a cattail this morning.

Intrigued, I did a little research and the thing that amazed me most was, like many birds, they are sexually dimorphic, meaning males and females have very different appearances. The picture above shows both together. Night and day! In their colorization at least, they look nothing alike! I’ve probably seen many females but never knew what they were.

I find it interesting that after people find out that I am a pastor that they assume that I am closer to God than they could possibly be. Just because I spend time preparing for each week’s service, and then get up and present a message that God has laid upon my heart, makes me no more spiritual than anyone else.

The body of Christ – the Church – is intentionally diverse.

The Apostle Paul hit the nail on the head when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 12:14-19,

Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?

But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. How strange a body would be if it had only one part!

We all have important roles to play. A pastor may sometimes wear different hats – play different roles – but for the Church to have the greatest impact in the world around us, we each must seek out what God would have us do…each of us.

Without male and female Red-winged Blackbirds there would be no more of them at all! And not just for procreation! They each play a part in the whole cycle of life.

We in turn must do what God calls us to do. And to be most effective at it, we must draw close to God by speaking with Him regularly, reading the word He has so graciously given us, and then interacting with fellow believers to be encouraged and inspired on our faith journey. Lord, may it be so!

Apr 12th, 2021, Mon, 7:59 pm