Dear Readers, and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword is taken from Deuteronomy Chapter 32 verse 11, “Like and eagle that stirs up her nest that flutters over her young, He spread abroad His wings and He took them, He bore them on His pinions,” (Amplified Bible). In this chapter Moses is teaching Israel. He states that his message will drop like dew and nourishes the tender blades of faith as they are breaking through the soil. Moses describes God’s care and his nurturing likening it to a fathering and mothering God. Gently, like a mother eagle teaching her eaglets to fly, God stirs nests and teaches his children to fly, soaring the skies. The wings of the young birds are still not strong enough to carry themselves, so the mother swoops in underneath them and carries them on her pinions. She brings them to the safety of the nest when she sees that they are getting in trouble during the flights. These flying lessons continue until the young are able to fly solo and find their way back to the nest. God is gentle and kind; He does not kick his children out of the nest, but nurtures them until they are ready to embark on distant journeys. However, God always has his eyes on his brood and can’t wait to welcome them after their journey. God created these magnificent instincts in his creatures: being able to nurture their young, to protect them, look out for them, feed and nourish them and teach them life’s flying lessons. Beholding the birds of the air, we are struck at their devotion and work to nurture their young.
When Jesus was teaching in the temple He referred to this passage of Moses and used the image of a mothering hen, “How often would I have gathered your children together as a mother fowl gathers her brood under her wings, and you refused,” Matthew 23 verse 37, (Amplified Bible). When the mother hen senses trouble she calls for the chicks, and they run and hide under her wings. Jesus sensed the coming trouble and tried to alert those around him, teaching them the truths of the Kingdom of God, but He was rejected. Nevertheless, He gave his life to save those who demanded that He be crucified. As God bore the children in the desert on his pinions and carried them to safety, so Jesus Christ, “bore” and carried our sin on his shoulders, and brought us to eternal safety. Like Moses, Jesus used the creatures of God in stories and parables to explain God’s care and love for his children. “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps on feeding them. Are you not much more worth than they,” Matthew 6 verse 26, (Amplified Bible). Martin Luther said that he calculated that to have been able to feed only the sparrows in France for one year, the French King would not have had enough revenue to do so! But God keeps on feeding the birds of the world. God’s protection and care for us reaches higher, deeper and wider than we can ever comprehend, it encompasses all our needs.
Realizing that our Lord cares for us providing material and spiritual needs far beyond what we can ask for, creates peace within our restless hearts. For our hearts get burdened with the toils and turmoil of life on earth, what we shall eat and what we shall drink and how we will be able to live in the future? “Therefore, do not worry and be anxious,” says our Lord. When we think about the awesome scope of God’s plans and his power, we receive his peace. “The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4 verse 7, (NRSVB).
Father God, we marvel at your infinite wisdom and care. You nurture and protect us and give us what we need, more than what we need, according to your promises in your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, Amen.