May 15
He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent empty away.
Luke 1:53
The lively, brown sparrows; calm, cautious, crimson cardinals; and noisy, bright, grey-blue, blue jays; to name a few, were calling and swooping back and forth to the empty bird feeder. Rain was forecast, consequently my husband refused to fill it, stating that the seed would become all wet and they wouldn’t eat it. I, on the other hand find that ridiculous! So of course, I filled it! They still need to eat, and even more so in the inclement weather! In addition, somehow it seems to always manage to get emptied by them or the fat greedy squirrels. (Either that or my hubby is cleaning it when I am not noticing!!) It’s funny sometimes when I take a step back and look at how differently my husband and I think about some things!
Speaking of fat, greedy, gray, squirrels, no matter what device or distraction my husband has implemented to discourage them from hoarding that feeder, they are cleaver enough to work around it to fill their fuzzy, white little bellies. It is comical to watch their antics and the subsequent success of their endeavors. Yet, some would not agree with me. In her day, Maizy, with one bark would help the birds claim their filling station as their own. In addition, this same man while discouraging the squirrels’ dining at the bird feeder is feeding them peanuts that you would eat at a ball park! The man cannot hide his true heart.
This passage from Luke gets me to thinking about needs. Like the birds (and squirrels!) really, our need for nourishment, according to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy, is basic - one of many primary physiological requirements. Without food, we cannot survive. Yet we yearn for more . . . physiological needs are not enough for us. We are God’s. We are human and we cannot survive without our spiritual food replenished . . . and even more so when the “weather” is inclement, when the times are tough. When we think we do not need to be spiritually filled, that we have more than enough, it is then we may need it most, that we may in fact be most “empty.” For our need for refilling is a constant, we will never have enough, which is why our God, in all His love, is always ready to fill that hunger with every good thing.
Moment by moment; day by day we turn to you to fill our empty spirits, Lord!
Copyright© 2014 Kathleen A. Matson