Birds of a Feather

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Romans 2:11
For God does not show favoritism.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you probably know that my husband, Danny, and I enjoy feeding the birds that inhabit our forest.  So much so, we have two squirrel-buster feeders hung with a series of wires and pulleys so they can be lowered for easy filling, then hauled back up beyond the reach of the deer that frequent our neighborhood.  (Yes, folks, deer like sunflower seeds, too!)

We've seen quite the variety of birds over the years:  cardinals; nuthatches; chickadees; goldfinches, and even the occasional flicker and bluebird.  All in all, these birds seem to respect each other's space at the feeders; it's not uncommon to see one or two perched on the wire when the feeders are occupied, awaiting their turn that always comes quickly.

Enter the house finch.

We're all familiar with the old saying, "Birds of a feather flock together."  Whoever penned that must have been well acquainted with the habits of house finches.  According to All About Birds, house finches are gregarious creatures, who upon discovering feeders to their liking, might bring a flock of 50 or more birds with them.

Thank goodness this group hasn't attracted this unwieldy number!  But as you can tell from these photos Danny takes, they are certainly swarming our feeders.

And although the cardinal above managed to "wing" his way in, many other of our feathered friends, who are certainly not used to this level of competition, are excluded.

If the house finch has a motto, I'm sure it is, "All for one, and one for all."

They flock together, feed together, oblivious to the presence of the other bird species around them.  It's as if they are the only creatures who matter.  Who measure up.

And I can't help but think their behavior reflects our own human frailties.  Don't we tend to stick to our "own kind?"  Surrounding ourselves with friends who think like us, act like us, dress like us?  Turning a blind eye toward others who "don't measure up" to our standards, our level of education, our income bracket?

But Paul reminds us in Romans 2:11 that God doesn't play favorites.  He loves all His children with the same fierce, unfailing, abiding love.  No one person is more blessed than another.  All are equally precious to Him.

So knowing we are all one in Christ Jesus, shouldn't we start behaving that way toward our fellow human beings, no matter what side of the tracks they come from, no matter their political beliefs, no matter their skin color or country of origin?

It's so much easier to be a house finch, isn't it?

But God never said following Him would be easy.

With the Lord's help, may we all begin to regard our fellow travelers on this life's journey with God's eyes.

The eyes of love.

Amen!

Due to having our granddaughter, Virginia, here all next week for Vacation Bible School, and me helping out with this each day, I'm taking a brief blog break.  I will be back here with you on Tuesday, June 27th.  God bless!