Birds Of The Air

[Walter and Deborah]

Friday 10-7-22 6th. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Tishri 10 5783 16th. Fall Day

Birds of the Air

Read: Matthew 6:25–33 | Bible in a Year: Isaiah 28–29; Philippians 3
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Do not worry about your life. Matthew 6:25

The summer sun was rising and my smiling neighbor, seeing me in my front yard, whispered for me to come look. “What?” I whispered back, intrigued. She pointed to a wind chime on her front porch, where a tiny teacup of straw rested atop a metal rung. “A hummingbird’s nest,” she whispered. “See the babies?” The two beaks, tiny as pinpricks, were barely visible as they pointed upward.

“They’re waiting for the mother.” We stood there, marveling. I raised my cell phone to snap a picture. “Not too close,” my neighbor said. “Don’t want to scare away the mother.” And with that, we adopted—from afar—a family of hummingbirds.

But not for long. In another week, mother bird and babies were gone—as quietly as they had arrived. But who would care for them?

The Bible gives a glorious but familiar answer. It’s so familiar that we may forget all that it promises: “Do not worry about your life,” said Jesus (Matthew 6:25). A simple but beautiful instruction. “Look at the birds of the air,” He added. “They do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them” (v. 26).

Just as God cares for tiny birds, He cares for us—nurturing us in mind, body, soul, and spirit. It’s a magnificent promise. May we look to Him daily—without worry—and soar.

What’s the difference between worry and planning—or worry and concern? As you look at your life, how is God daily providing?

Loving God, it’s humbling to know that You care for the needs of my life. Please help me to honor Your promise to provide by trusting You more each day.

INSIGHT

In Matthew 6:25–33, Jesus used a principle for logic and interpretation sometimes called qal wahomer, Hebrew for “light and heavy.” Qal wahomer was one of the principles recorded by the revered Jewish teacher Hillel (who lived 110 bc–ad 10). The principle argues that if something is true for something less important (“light”), it’s also true for something more important (“heavy”).

Jesus used this principle to emphasize that if God cares for the birds, how much more must He care for His beloved children (v. 26). And if God “clothes” fields with breathtaking beauty, how much more must God care about clothing His children (v. 30).

This principle strengthens Jesus’ emphasis on exchanging worry for trust (vv. 25–34). When we trust God, we can exchange our preoccupation on what’s less important for a devotion to what’s most important: His “kingdom and his righteousness” (v. 33).

By Patricia Raybon |October 7th, 2022

God's Love And Care Matthew 6:25-33

25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

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Love, Walter and Debbie

Edited October 8, 2022 by Walter and Deborah
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