Give Thanks For All Our Blessings

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are ye not much better than they?” Matthew 6:26

A few years ago, I was invited to share a wonderful feast with my cousins on Thanksgiving.  As we ate, we could see out the window the bird bath in their backyard.  It was covered with all kinds of feathered friends, and boy, were the little birds having a good ole’ time!  God gave us nature to teach us, and we can certainly learn from some of the smallest creatures God has made.

Everything God made has a purpose–even a mosquito–for what I have no idea!  God made man a little lower than the angels (Psalm 8:5) and gave him dominion over the plants and animals (Genesis 1:28).  Since the higher beings, the angels, and the lower beings, the plants and animals, are both subject to and dependent upon God, why would man consider himself free from God and His laws?  If man views himself as independent of God and self-sufficient then he has no recourse other than to worry and fret over life.  In other words, when trouble comes, and it surely does, men and women who choose to ignore God have nowhere to turn.

Jesus said to examine closely the “fowls of the air”.  Look at what they can do that man can’t–fly!  Birds soar through the air, looking down with their exceptionally sharp vision and see grains and worms or bugs for a delicious meal.  They didn’t have to till the ground, plant the seed, and wait for the harvest.  They don’t have to worry about sufficient rainfall for the crops.  They don’t have to store up food for winter.  God provides them food on a daily basis and gives them the instinct to know where to find it.  He doesn’t open their mouths and drop the food in.  The birds do have to put forth an effort to find the food, but God always provides it.  They may have to tug at a worm or share an ear of corn with another bird, but they never worry that they will not be fed.  And they are not picky eaters.  Sure there are preferences about the kinds of food that they eat, but they always seem to find what they are looking for.

No matter where we are when we sit down to enjoy a meal together, at Thanksgiving and at any other time, it is always appropriate to bow our heads and ask God to bless our food and thank Him for it.   I like to think that when a bird sings from a tree branch that she is singing praises in thankfulness to the Lord who has protected, fed, and cared for her.  So if a little sparrow can take time to give thanks to God, shouldn’t we be ever so mindful to give Him thanks?  As much as God cares for the birds of the air that He created, He cares infinitely more for His human creation.  That gives me a great feeling of comfort and peace.  Let’s take a hint from our feathered friends to be more thankful for all the blessings of life.  The next time someone calls me a “bird brain”, I’ll take it as a compliment!  I hope everyone has a restful and blessed Thanksgiving.