Monday
Deuteronomy 32.10 “In a desert land he found him, in a barren and howling waste. He shielded him and cared for him; he guarded him as the apple of his eye.”
This is about God’s love for Israel, and God’s eternal love for all his people. Without God’s gracious call, all of us are lost in a hard place. These words are part of Moses’ song about the steadfast love and mercy of God. Shielded, cared for, guarded – the protective care of God for each one of us is faithful, constant, and focused because we are ‘the apple of his eye.’ It is God’s call and grace and love that confer our worth and our dignity. Not what we offer, redeemed sinners as we are – only by His mercy.
Tuesday
Deuteronomy 32.11 “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them on its pinions.”
When you’ve wandered in the desert for decades, eagles have become a familiar sight. The adult eagle’s fierce yet tender attentiveness to its young is a powerful image of God’s protective care and support. We are not meant to fly alone, but are upheld, accompanied, looked after. Eagles don’t carry their young – the verse is using the strength of the wings and the fierce tenderness of the parent bird to describe the provident love of God. We are borne on eagle’s wings.
Wednesday
Psalm 103.1&5 “Praise the Lord, O my soul…who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Desire is no bad thing. To desire love and to be loved; to desire a closer walk with God; to desire a deeper faith, a larger trust, a stronger hope – all of these are ‘good things’, and they find their fulfilment in the Lord who heals, redeems, forgives and crowns us with compassion. Such serial blessing lifts us up, enables us to soar like an eagle using thermal uplift. Think of God’s blessings as exactly that, an undercurrent of grace that raises us towards God and draws from the soul a song of praise.
Thursday
Psalm 84.1&3 “How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! Even the sparrow has found a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she can have her young– a place near your altar.”
This time the bird image is not about God, but about the Psalm poet (and us) imagining God’s protective care for us in the ordinary and natural structures of a sparrow’s home and a swallow’s nest in the borrowed space of the temple. Not just that though, near the altar, close to God where God keeps an eye on them – and us. In our technologically advanced world, given our casual familiarity with our own human cleverness, these words are a reminder that we are not self-sufficient. Staying close to God, being near God’s altar, making our home in the place of sure safety – that is the same recurring act of faith and trust as the tiny birds looking for safe space. Every year they come back, because each year they have been safe.
Friday
Matthew 10.29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father…so don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows.
“Don’t be afraid” is something Jesus said quite a lot! And always against the background of the power and purposes of our Heavenly Father. Our worth is not calculated on our usefulness, our moral performances, or our gifts and possessions. God made us, and God loves all that He has made. Christ redeemed us through that same creative love. When Jesus talks like this to his disciples, and to us, he aims to change our perspective, and to see our lives as part of the story of God’s purposes.
Saturday
Psalm 91.4 “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.”
The mother hen sheltering her chickens was another obvious metaphor ready to hand for the psalm-poet. Reinforced by a trio of protective words; a place of refuge, a defensive shield, a strong rampart. The solicitous tenderness of the mother hen switches to the military prowess of the God who takes sides against peril, evil and danger. “O spread Thy covering wings around till all our wanderings cease; and at our Father’s loved abode, our souls arrive in peace.” A wonderful old paraphrase, and in this verse the bold prayer for a whole life-care plan under the wings of God’s refuge!
Sunday
Matthew 6.25-26 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?”
Jesus closing question is a firm argument for the providence of God. The answer is an obvious yes! Much of our lives is spent worrying about whether we will have enough, wondering if life can be made safe from harm, anxious about a future that isn’t ever in our own hands. The index of the Christian’s value is the Cross; “he who did not spare his only Son, will he not, with him, freely give you all things?” Of course He will!
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