Bird Brained

Even the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons, and the dove, the swift, and the thrush observe the time of their migration. But my people do not know the requirements of the Lord. Jeremiah 8: 7

The birds are starting to migrate south for the winter. It seems like only yesterday when I was excited over their arrival in the spring. Now, summer has faded into fall, and I’ve noticed fewer hummingbirds at my feeders over the past few weeks. I love fall, but I always miss the hummingbirds when they leave.

My Bible reading this morning was quite timely, since I was thinking about the fall migration of the birds. As I read Jeremiah 8:7, I pondered with delight the fact that God mentions the dove, the swift, the thrush, and the stork in His word to make a powerful statement about obedience. We can learn a few things from the birds! Everyone has probably heard the expression “bird brained” used in a derogatory way to mean someone unintelligent who, like a bird, has a small brain. I am quite amused by the verse in Jeremiah stating how the birds know the time of their migration, but God’s people don’t know the requirements of the Lord.

The people in Jeremiah’s time kept turning away from God. They were heading in the wrong direction, sinking deeper and deeper into sinful living. Instead of “flying” God’s way, they continued on their own, ignoring God, doing things their way.We see this happening all around us today, and many of us, myself included, do it our way more often than we care to admit. We make excuses for not obeying God’s word. One of the most popular excuses is: Times are different now, so we can’t really _____ (fill in the blank). We always seem to find reasons to excuse sinful behavior, perhaps blaming it on someone or something else. The medical community often comes up with a new “psychological condition” for sinful behavior. None of our excuses will hold up when we stand before God. God’s word does not change, and God does not change. His word is still truth whether or not we choose to see it as truth, regardless of the time we live in.

I recently listened to a sermon on the radio, and the speaker stated that the popular song “I Did It My Way” is the song they are singing in hell, because nobody in hell did it God’s way. We need to remember that. Maybe we should even take a few lessons from the birds. Perhaps we could all stand to be a little more “bird brained,” and like the birds, observe the ways of our Heavenly Father, and walk in obedience to what His requirements are.