Issue 1514 – Singer of Songs – August 2, 2024
I had a delightful little visitor while sitting in the backyard yesterday. A big fat song sparrow dropped by. He foraged around the empty stump feeder (We will start filling the feeders again come autumn. He hopped down and rooted around in the hostas and ferns for a while.
He took a quick flight to the water feature. There, he enjoyed a cool drink and a bath. My little visitor flew a few more feet to the fence, where he treated me to a short song.
The sparrow returned an hour or so later, rechecked the feeders and the plants, and then was gone. I couldn’t get a photo as I didn’t want to move and chance scaring him away. Today’s image is of a song sparrow from a different occasion.
We are blessed to have a large variety of birds in the immediate neighborhood and the park behind our home. They treat us to symphonies from daylight on until dusk. Some species I know by their call, others I recognize the call from hearing it but have no idea who the singer is.
The sound of their singing is a simple pleasure to hear.
As a society, we have largely disconnected from our relationship with the natural world around us. We get too tied up in the busyness of life or hooked on our devices (that often includes me) to stop and enjoy the simple pleasures the Lord has placed all around us.
The Lord has given humanity dominion over the earth and its inhabitants.
Then God said, “Let us make man[a] in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image; in the image of God, he created him; male and female, he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28
When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon, and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. Psalm 8:3-8
Godly dominion over creation includes wise use and stewardship over the resources, which we have historically failed at. It also includes the love and appreciation of the gift.
He has given us the gifts of natural beauty, like rainbows, waterfalls, sunsets, and the like. He has given us the wonder of the changing seasons to ponder and plan by. He has given us the sounds of birdsongs, gurgling brooks, and gentle winds to please our ears.
Everything the Lord has provided points us to Him.
Take some time today to enjoy what God has given us, and give Him thanks.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)