Daily Devotional for December 17, 2011

Psalm 145:5-9
I will keep thinking about your marvelous glory and your mighty miracles. Everyone will talk about your fearsome deeds, and I will tell all nations how great you are. They will celebrate and sing about your matchless mercy and your power to save. You are merciful, LORD! You are kind and patient and always loving. You are good to everyone, and you take care of all your creation.

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

For the last few days, a cedar tree outside our window has been filled with bluebirds and pine warblers. The tree is loaded with tiny blue berries, and the bluebirds especially love them. So all of these little songbirds have had a feast!

Below the tree on a shepherd’s hook hangs a bird feeder that we keep filled this time of year with black sunflower seeds. The birds enjoy these seeds, but the bluebirds seem to prefer the cedar berries. I sat at the window for a long time one morning… mesmerized by these beautiful creatures. The males are much more brilliant in color than the females, but both have their own sweet beauty.

As I watched these little songbirds feed on the berries, I thought about how caring and loving God is… that He could care enough to provide blue berries on a gnarly, shaggy-barked tree to feed tiny creatures that wear coats in a rainbow of blues, oranges, greys and browns. He knit together each bird in perfection… just the right number of feathers in just the right arrangement to create their colorful, distinctive markings. Even if we never put out a single sunflower seed in winter, God would not let these little birds starve.

The God who takes care of these tiny birds is the same God who loves and cares for us. Surely He meets all of our needs and loves us just as much. This is a good time to stop and thank Him for being so merciful, powerful, gracious, and kind. It took a flock of tiny bluebirds on a dreary winter day to remind me just how special we are to God. And now I’m reminding you!

Take a few minutes today to look around and marvel at God’s glory and mighty miracles. Give Him a prayer of thanks and praise for being so meticulous and thorough. Tell God how much you appreciate He meets your needs so well… and remind someone else how much He cares for them. I just did!

©2011 Debbie Robus

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