This devotional thought comes from a mailing list I am on.
Clint
______________________________
THE SPARROW
An Exposition of Matthew 10:29
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them
shall not
fall on the ground without your Father. Matthew 10:29.
Luke 12:6 is a parallel passage with our text - Are not
five sparrows
sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten
before God?
How beautiful is the comparison between these two passages!
In
Matthew 10 two sparrows are sold for one farthing. Luke
gives us the
information that if one buys four sparrows for two
farthings, an
extra one is thrown in - for good measure. In that day
sparrows were
sold ready plucked, trussed in rows of about one dozen on
slender
wooden skewers. They are cooked and eaten like a kabob.-
Smith's Dictionary of the Bible.
And one of them shall not fall on the ground - that is,
dead. In
death, the little bird has a special place in the heart and
mind of
God. This is so very comforting to us, for if God takes
interest in
the death of the sparrow, how much more does He take
interest in our
passing this earthly scene. Luke 12 goes a step further by
saying,
not one of them is forgotten before God. This is saying
that even in
life not one sparrow is forgotten before God. In death and
in life,
God takes notice of each bird.
It should be noted here that the sparrow is the most common
of all
birds. It is a bird not noted for its beauty. We could
understand
it better if God were speaking of the robin, the cardinal,
the
bluebird, the chickadee, or some other beautiful fowl. But
God chose
the sparrow, the lowly common sparrow - the common bird to
send us a
message of His care.
Without - This is the word that compounds the blessing of
this
verse. Without signifies that not one sparrow is omitted
from the
Father's care when it dies; the Heavenly Father, who made
the
sparrow, attends to it at the time of its death and
comforts it in
its final moments. How much more does our Heavenly Father
care for
you and me!
Your Father - This speaks of God's special relation to you
and me.
It is personal - Your Father. God, our Father, guides and
directs
the fall of the sparrow. It only falls with His
permission, and when
and where He chooses.
Ah, the sparrow has a message of God for us! They do not
light on
the ground for food except the blessed Heavenly Father in
His
providence provides it for them. None of them is ever
forgotten
before God, Luke 12:6. He feedeth them. Matthew 6:26
chides us
about being anxious since our Heavenly Father feeds the
fowls of the
air. Since He feeds the sparrows, He will feed us.
Now let us look at Luke 12:6, 7. As we said, this is a
companion
passage to the one in Matthew 10. This puts the icing on
the cake -
Luke 12 being a blessed commentary on Matthew 10. How
sweetly they
both fit together!
Luke 12:6, 7 deals providentially with the events in the
life of
God's child. The more we contemplate the path of God's
child here,
the more we must realize that each step, each event in his
life,
occurs only by the permission of God Himself. When the
child of God
faces persecution, bitter suffering, even death itself,
none of it
can happen without God's consent. Suffering allowed by
God, and
inflicted by Him becomes part of the service of God's child
for his
Master. How wonderful!
Be kind to the sparrow; God loves him so! Feed the
sparrow, drop him
some handfuls of purpose (bird seed) every chance you get.
In conclusion, God rules and overrules, planning the life
of His
child. With a God who loves the sparrow so, we can commit
our whole
lives to Him. -Gene Griffin
THE SPARROW
Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them
shall not
fall on the ground without your Father. Matthew 10:29.
See the little bird
Spoken of in God's Word?
The most common of birds is he;
But he has a special message for you and me.
The cardinal, the blue bird, the chickadee all share
A noble beauty beyond compare.
Of all birds the sparrow is not the most fair,
Yet God uses him as an illustration of His care.
But God has chosen the most common of birds to bear -
A message to cheer us in our day of care.
God loves the sparrow so well;
How much He loves us no one can tell.
Our value is more than many sparrows can be;
Our Father has an infinite love for you and me.
He sees each sparrow that falls to the ground.
With that little bird His presence can be found.
So the next time you are loaded down with care,
Think of the sparrow message God has to share.
Since He takes good care of His little bird,
He'll take car of us according to His Word.
Clint,
Are you a bird watcher? I am ,and I love your post. Now down here in Florida we don't get many different species of sparrows. Since they are all brown they are some of the hardest to identify. Nice message.
Bro.Chuck, all I said, these are the one's by the hundreds that are flying
over my farm and it's called the Spanish Sparrow just like the
species: Hispaniolensis (Spanish)
The Spaniards brought them and raised them in ST.Augustine,FL
thats why we have millions of them in FL. today.
__________________
Jesus said, "he who stands firm to the end will be saved" Mark 13:13.
Live Life in such a way that those who do not know Christ will come to know Him because they know you
What's the normal name Rebel.I haven't seen that one before. The gray cheek makes it look a little like a swamp sparrow. But the swamp doesn't have the streaked breast. Is that bird in the US?
Chuck
I see it now.Notice the white wing bar. That bird can't even count fot the Audubon checklist. It's a Eurasian bird. It's the House Sparrow.They are all over in the parking lots. Nice picture. The streaky breast through me off.Usually it's a buff colored gray. I have a bunch in my feeder everyday.
Chuck
Here, they are known as English Sparrows. They are a true pest too! Each year, I place about 20 nest boxes for the Eastern Bluebird. Some of the boxes are used by Tree Swallows. I don't mind them since they are insect eaters.
But it is my understanding that Sparrows are primarily seed eaters. Hence they do well around farms and agricultural areas. These English Sparrows are a very aggressive bird by nature. When a Tree Swallow or Bluebird uses one of my nest boxes, the Sparrows will attempt to take the box from them. In fact, they often kill a Tree Swallow inside the box and commence building their nest on top of the dead bird. I have seen this behavior many, many times. They will try the same tactics with the Eastern Bluebirds too. However, the Bluebirds are capable of withstanding their aggression unharmed. This year alone, I have found 4-5 tree swallows inside my nest boxes that had been pecked to death.
As a consequence, every birder I know will evict English Sparrows from their nest boxes. I build all my nest boxes with a front that will swing open. It is very quick and easy to open the box to ascertain what species is using it. One learns the appearance of the nests of the various species. I always dump the nests----eggs and all----of the English Sparrow. I want to favor the procreative activity of the Eastern Bluebird over all others. They have made a remarkable comeback from the decimation of their species from the use of DDT etc.
The Sparrow
There are over 30 different species in N.America.Florida has very few. Here are the most common in Florida..
