"Even The Sparrow Has Found a Home"

"Even the sparrow has found a home, 

and the swallow a nest for herself, 

where she may lay her young--

Even Your altars, O Lord of hosts, My King and My God.  

Blessed are those who dwell in Your house; 

They will still be praising You."  

Psalm 83:3-4

 

I was so blessed and surprised this evening as I sat down in the Secret Garden for little spell, and no sooner had I sat down than this little Chickadee came a calling...

and I do mean literally "calling" for her/his mate.

Not long after I heard the mate responding from the nearby tree.  They were looking me over as if to say, 

"What are YOU doing here in our secret garden hideaway?"

So I just sat very very still and got my camera into position and starting clicking away.

What a blessing!

I was not aware that they were still using this old bird house that sits rather crookedly atop the clothesline post.

 I guess you could say, 

"Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home!"

As we think about this season of Lent, we remember that Jesus also talked about the birds having nests...

(See Luke 9:57-62)

"Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, "Lord, I will follow You wherever You go."

And Jesus said to him,

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."

Then He said to another,

"Follow Me."

But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."

Jesus said to him,

"Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."

And another also said,

"Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."

But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."

Being a disciple of Christ is not for "sissies".  Once a decision is made to follow Christ, 

we may be asked to go places we've never gone before, or to meet people we've never known and may not be too sure we want to know.  We may be asked to leave our families behind and take a leap of faith to go far away and attend Bible College or Seminary, or preach the Gospel to people who speak a language that is foreign to us or have customs that are not familiar to us.  We may never have a house to call our own, and may be asked to live in sub-par housing like this chickadee above.  

I can tell you from personal experience, because we've done this many times over the past 50 years of our married life...when you answer the call of God to follow Him, there's no turning back.  Once you take that step of faith and say "Yes, Lord, I will follow You, ", you may find that you are going places you never dreamed of.  You may say good-bye to loved ones and friends that you will never see again...you may even find that your own children are faced with serious challenges because of your calling...and then you may find that when you are ready to settle down and finally retire, you don't have a nice pension to fall back on or any IRA waiting in the bank, or a nice home to retire in.  I can speak from experience there as well...but one thing I do know, God has never failed us yet.  We have been seriously challenged, we have had to make many moves that were not always pleasant, we've had to depend on others to meet our financial needs when we had not one penny to our names...but JESUS NEVER FAILS.  He has ALWAYS been with us no matter where we went or what we were doing.  Even when it appeared that we had lost our way and were off course for a while...God was there, healing our wounds, soothing our troubled brows, and whispering words of love in our ears...even when we couldn't love ourselves.  Yes, following Jesus, even though He had "nowhere to lay His head", has been the very best decision we have ever made in our lives.  I am so glad that early in our marriage God got a hold of our hearts and called us into His kingdom so that we could serve Him for the rest of our lives.  We sang this little hymn so often, with real meaning and commitment:

Please listen carefully to this message with the song attached below...

I never heard this story before in connection with this song, but in reading the comments below the video, I see many who testify that this is true.  Thankfully, we did not have to sacrifice our family in this way as this missionary did, and I wonder if I could have had such faith in the face of such terror, and I must say I am thankful that God did not allow us to be put to that extreme test.  But we were tested and tried in many ways throughout the years, some that have left scars in our family.  Again, God is faithful, and He has carried us through, and I can still sing this song with all sincerity:

I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

I have decided to follow Jesus;

No turning back, no turning back.

2. Tho' none go with me, I still will follow,

Tho' none go with me I still will follow,

Tho' none go with me, I still will follow;

No turning back, no turning back.

3. The world behind me, the cross before me,

The world behind me, the cross before me;

The world behind me, the cross before me;

No turning back, no turning back.

So, during this season of Lent...have you decided "To Follow Jesus...No turning back, no turning back?"  I can assure you it will be well worth the journey.