Every fall, usually in late September or early October, we make our first trip outdoors on a cool, clear evening to eat by the fire.  It is usually hot dogs and chips, but occasionally chili or soup or stew, or sometimes just a cup of cocoa and a few homemade shortbread cookies. 

Chloe knows the drill and as soon as she sees the wooden tray that Lucas made in high school shop class loaded with paper plates, plastic cups, and bags of chips, or maybe a tall stewpot and some bowls, or perhaps just a couple of steaming mugs, she follows close behind.  Does she beg?  No, she does not.  She sits a small distance from our lawn chairs by the fire and carefully watches.  Her eyes will follow the franks as Keith skewers them on the three foot long fork, or she will monitor me as I ladle out the steaming chili.  Whatever it is we have, she quietly sits and watches with eyes gleaming in the firelight. 

But as soon as she sees me load up the tray tables next to our chairs, she bounces up on all fours and her tail begins to wag.  After well over twelve years, she knows what is coming.  As I head back to the wooden tray one more time, she finally begins hopping a tiny bit back and forth on her front feet, and licks her chops.  "Good girl," I tell her.  "Here you go," and hand her a Busy Bone, usually the Chewnola variety, which we have learned over the years keeps her happy the longest.  Usually, we all three finish eating at the same time.

Because we have always given her a treat while we eat, she trusts us to do it again—every single time.  So she sits and waits patiently with a Biblically defined "hope"—assurance that what is promised will come.

God expects no less of us.  But before we get too far along in this, let me say this.  "Patience" in the Bible is not about being quiet and never complaining.  James talks about "the patience of Job" in 5:11.  If you have read Job, you understand that he did not take things quietly.  No, patience in the Bible is about endurance, steadfastness, never giving up no matter how difficult things may get.  Job certainly did that.  God expects that of us as well, in all sorts of situations.

He expects us to wait when people have been evil to us.  Do not say, “I will repay evil”; wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.  Prov 20:22.  Teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.  ​Give me not up to the will of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me, and they breathe out violence.  I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  ​Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD! Psa 27:11-14

He expects us to wait when the evil are prospering and we are suffering.  Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.  ​He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.  Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.  ​For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the LORD shall inherit the land.  In just a little while, the wicked will be no more…Psa 37:5-10

He expects us to wait even when the world is reviling his name.  How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?  Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand? Take it from the fold of your garment and destroy them!  Yet God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.  Ps 74:10-12

He expects us to wait in the midst of trials and persecutions.    When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne  They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer…  Rev 6: 9-11

And why do we wait patiently—without giving up on God no matter what happens in our lives?  Because of all the promises he has kept in the past.  Because of a land and a nation that came into existence after more than four centuries.  Because of a Messiah who finally came after thousands of years to fulfill that very first promise:  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”  Gen3:15  Even because of the care he has promised and given us on an everyday basis.

And now we wait for one final promise:  For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God…1Thess4:16

And so we wait, even more eagerly than Chloe waits, I hope, with even more assurance that the promise will indeed be kept.  After all, God has been so much more faithful to me than I have been to him.
 
  For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “Surely I will bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, o that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul…Heb 6:13-19
 
Dene Ward

Keith went out in the dark the other night to check for armadillos.  We have found our garden, yard, and flowerbeds torn up nearly every morning for the past two or three weeks, and he was out to rid the world of a few of those pesky critters, a fruitless venture it turned out.
 
           As he stood in the black, heavy, humid air amid the croaking frogs, his eyes not yet used to the dark, he put his left hand down, knowing full well that Chloe’s head would find it whether he could see her or not.  It did, and he scratched her between the ears and told her what a good dog she was to help with the hunt.

            The Bible mentions God’s hand being held out as well.  Jeremiah speaks of God creating the earth with great power and an outstretched arm, 27:5.  Moses tells the Israelites that same mighty hand and outstretched arm brought them out of Egyptian bondage, and thus they should obey His commandments, Deut 5:15ff.  Later in their history Ezekiel warns them that, since they disobeyed, His hand would be held out with wrath poured out, 20:33,34.

            That is not the way God wants to hold out His hand.  We have all seen animals or children cringe when a hand was held up.  It speaks volumes about the kind of treatment they are used to receiving.  But God has held His hand out in fellowship from the beginning.  We are the ones who ignore it or push it away. 

            In chapter 11, Hosea tells of God teaching Israel, his son, to walk, and I cannot help but picture a father standing just a step away with his arms outstretched, urging his small child to take that first trusting step into his arms.  That is the hand God wants to hold out to us.

            The question is do we naturally gravitate to the one who loves us, or do we simply ignore the pleading hand and go about our foolish ways?  Chloe is always looking for her master’s hand, even in the dark.  How about you?
 
Fear thou not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you; yea, I will help you; yea, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.
With a strong hand, and with an outstretched arm; For his lovingkindness endures for ever, Isa 41:10; Psa 136:12.
 
Dene Ward

My neighbor does not take good care of his livestock.  The horses, donkeys and cows all have ribs that show through their skin and sores on their hides, unfortunately, just below the level that the animal control people consider criminal neglect, so they will not intervene.  I often think to myself that I would like to see those people have to endure the same things as these animals and then decide if it is abuse or not, particularly after those poor creatures have broken through the fence yet again and we must dodge them as they wander the road looking for something to eat..  We have even thrown some of our garden refuse over the fence to try to help them out.
 
           As I walked up to unlock the gate one morning for an expected visitor, a donkey and a cow stood just across the west fence.  The donkey evidently saw a meal on the hoof, walked up to the cow and started chewing its left ear.  The cow was not pleased with the situation and turned around.  So the donkey started chewing its right ear.  The cow yanked its head away and trotted off, with the donkey trailing behind.  As soon as the cow stopped, the donkey headed straight for her head and grabbed an ear again.  Once again the cow turned around only to have the other ear chomped on.  She took off again.  I watched this for nearly five minutes before the cow finally headed for the fencerow and quite purposefully stuck her head in a bush. 

            The donkey tried to get to an ear and found himself struck in the face by the limbs and branches of the wild myrtle and unable to get to the cow’s ears.  I am afraid I could not help myself—I laughed out loud and cheered for the cow.  After a few minutes, the donkey gave up and left, trotting across the field straight for another cow, braying loudly as he went.  I had to go about my own business then, but I assume that cow had success as well since, while I still see the outlines of ribs and spines, I have yet to see any of those animals earless.

            Sometimes some braying donkey of a human comes along and tries to chew on our ears.  I am afraid that too often we let him when we should be turning aside and, if he is persistent, finding a bush to stick our heads into.  As long as there is a market for gossip and slander, there will be people to fill the need, and when we listen we are no better than they because we find pleasure in their sin. 

            Gossip can accomplish a lot, and none of it good.  It can ruin friendships, break up families, divide churches, and permanently stain reputations.  It has been going on since Satan, the “slanderer,” told Eve that God was just a selfish tyrant who did not want to share.  Look where that got all of us.

            Today, when someone comes to you with the latest “dirt,” find a bush and stick your head into it.  Don’t let that person chew on your ears.  Sooner or later he will get the message and move on.  
 
He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets; therefore company not with him who opens wide his lips. Prov 20:19.

Dene Ward

What you don’t know won’t hurt you.

            I didn’t know that Keith had taken Chloe’s food pan and set it in my chair on the carport when he blew the dust off a few Saturdays ago.  He didn’t notice that she had left a few kibbles.  Neither one of us knew that a few fire ants had gotten in there and they had migrated out to my chair when he disturbed them.  I didn’t know they had started crawling into my clothes when I sat down there until a few minutes after we walked back into the house.  Suddenly I was ripping off my clothes and slapping myself.  I wound up with bites on my chest, back, arms, and legs, and a ring of them around my neck.  I felt lousy for a day or two, not to mention the aggravating itch.  What I didn’t know did in fact hurt me quite a bit.

            That seems obvious, but sometimes we act like ignorance is a viable excuse for most anything.  And indeed, sometimes it is.  A new Christian has a lot to learn.  As long as he is studying and praying and trying as hard as he can to learn what he needs to be and do, his prayer for the grace of God will keep him safe.  I believe that with all my heart.

            But when I have been a Christian for years and years and have done nothing to learn and grow, or have simply stopped, that is inexcusable. 

            Learning new facts can be difficult, especially as I grow older.  Trying to see past the superficial to the amazing depth of God’s word can mean I must try to comprehend things I have never even thought of before.  Yet how many times have I heard “I never heard of such a thing” as the instant dismissal of a new thought in a Bible class?  How many times have I heard people complain because a class was “too deep?”  What a shameful thing for a Christian to say.      

            Then we get to the crux of the matter, for applying principles to my life can be as painful as a shirt full of fire ants.  Who in the world actually wants to know what they are doing wrong?  Why, I’ve been a Christian forty years; I’m not about to admit I still have weaknesses I need to confront in anything but a general way.

            That is, however, exactly what God expects of us.  The shame is that usually the babes in the Word are hungrier to learn and grow than we old-timers.  But we had better shape up, sooner rather than later, or ant bites will be the least of our problems.
 
Hear the word of Jehovah you children of Israel, for Jehovah has a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth or goodness or knowledge of God in the land.  My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.  Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you…Hosea 4:1,6.
 
Dene Ward

Chloe, our 12 year old Australian cattle dog, is not stupid.  She is, however, a little bit lazy.  She spends as much of her day as possible lying under the porch in the cool sand.  So several days a week I make sure she gets some exercise.  Keith has mown a path around the property that runs a half to three-quarters of a mile.  Chloe will easily follow me around once just to be with me, but if I try to lead her uphill and down, through thick grass and uneven ground, over armadillo holes and mole tunnels more than twice, she balks.  As soon as we come anywhere near the porch after the second lap, she is under it in a flash in her cool, damp haven.  She has had her fill of "healthy" for the day.
 
             In the summer she may not even last two laps, her tongue hanging nearly to the ground and her breath coming in heavy puffs after just a couple hundred feet, but as I said, she is not stupid.  Part of our jaunt lies in the bright, hot, direct Florida sun, and part in the deep, ten degree cooler shade of hundred year old live oaks.  Every time we hit a sunny spot, my furry redhead's pace picks up to a trot as she jogs through the heat.  When we reach the shade, she slows to a walk—the better to stay longer in the cooler shadows, head wagging back and forth with each heavy step, feet beginning to drag as she sees another sunny spot approaching.  If she finds a fresh hole to investigate or spoor to be sniffed, she will only do so in the shade.  In the sun, it just isn't worth it. 

              Winston Churchill supposedly said, "If you're going through hell, keep going."  (The attribution is an open question.)  Chloe would understand perfectly.  The only way to get out of the heat, out of the bad situation you are in, is to keep putting one foot in front of the other, the faster the better.  But what do I see?  People who lie down in the scorching sun and wallow around in the grass waiting for someone to come and pat them on the head and tell them everything will be fine.  Someone has been listening to too much health and wealth gospel.

               Everything will never be fine until you get up and get going, and then "fine" is still relative.  Life is hard.  That is what those curses in Genesis are all about.  "Thorns and thistles" is not about trying to grow a garden, it's about living a life of uncertainty, trials, illness, loss, pain, and suffering.  It happens to everyone, not just you.  If you went around the room and asked people to share, you would find that everyone is dealing with something.  The only way to handle it is to keep going until you reach some shade, even if only for a while. 

              If you need help to get out of the heat, get it.  Counselors and support groups should not be forbidden to Christians.  Find someone who has firsthand experience.  No one knows what you are going through like others who have been through the same things.  No "best friend" can help you like someone who has been trained to.  You are not being strong when you refuse this kind of assistance—you are simply making everyone who loves you suffer, too, by your stubbornness.  It's one thing to stumble and fall as you stagger through the scorching heat of affliction, and need a hand up; it's quite another to simply sit down in it and wallow like a pig in the mud.

              If a little dog knows better than to flounder in the heat, surely you should.  Get yourself up and walk—trot even--into the shade.  What will you find there?  Your brethren, a Savior who gave himself up for you in a truly horrible fashion, and God who allowed it for your sake, who listens to your cries, and who has promised that someday there will be no more scorching heat of suffering, just the cool, and Eternal shade of comfort and ease with Him.  But you will never reach it unless you keep on going.
 
So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2Cor 4:16-18)
 
Dene Ward

It was a couple of years before we finally had sparrows at our bird feeder.  For some reason, it took them the longest to find us.  But which variety?  I never realized there were so many until I tried to look these little guys up in my bird book.  One afternoon, a sparrow perched on the window ledge right beside me and I looked down on his tiny red-brown cap.  Aha!  He was a chipping sparrow.
 
           You know what else I noticed?  He always has friends with him.  What started out as two or three, by the third or fourth day had become a dozen, and the next Saturday afternoon I counted 21 on my five foot long feeder. 

            On our last camping trip, we threw some biscuit crumbs onto the grass outside the edge of our graveled state park campsite simply because I had heard a dove out there one morning and Keith was hoping to lure him out into the open.  I grabbed the binoculars—even though I sat only fifteen feet from that grassy spot—and saw a sparrow.  No, wait!  Not one but two, no--three, no--half a dozen.  Keith said, “Look at all those sparrows!” and I answered what I had come to know over the months, “You never see just one sparrow.”

            This, of course, made me think.  Cardinals?  Yes there were always more than one, usually a pair, and when they raise a family nearby they bring them to eat too.  They are a bit territorial, though, and will sometimes fly at other birds to knock them away from the food.  No one else is supposed to enjoy this privilege.

            Titmice?  Yes, they come in pairs too.  But when other birds arrive, they often sit off in the azalea bushes scolding them with a tiny, high-pitched screech.  Even when I go out to add more seed, though the others fly away, the titmice will sit and fuss at me.  I keep telling them, “I am giving you a free and easy meal.  Be patient!”  But scolding seems to be their nature.  Nothing anyone else does suits them.

            And the catbird?  He always comes alone.  He pecks the suet and flies away as fast as he can.  He is the biggest bird to visit my feeder, but he acts like he is afraid of them all.  He never interacts with anyone.  He is there and gone, almost before your eyes can focus on him.  I wonder how he gets any nourishment at all.

            But the sparrows? They are not afraid to sit close together and stay long.  None of the bigger birds can scare them off.  In fact, the doves, which run up and down the feeder, literally “running” birds off more than feeding themselves, cannot run off those sparrows.  I saw a dove try to run at a sparrow one day, and the sparrow just sat there, minding his own “eating” business, until the dove at the last minute had to hop over him to avoid the collision.  Meanwhile, there are more and more sparrows coming, and my birdseed bill is growing faster than my grocery budget.

            Can we learn anything from all these birds?  You can probably see these lessons as easily as I can.  Christians are grateful for what they have and enjoy feasting on the word of God.  They enjoy each other too.  They don’t have time to criticize because they are too busy with the business at hand.  And most of all, they want to share. 

            There should never be just one Christian.
 
So the woman left her waterpot, and went away into the city, and said to the people,  Come, see a man, who told me all things that ever I did: can this be the Christ?  They went out of the city, and were coming to him. And from that city many of the Samaritans believed on him because of the word of the woman who testified, John 4:28-30,39.
 
Dene Ward
 

Recently Judah joined big brother Silas for his first overnight with grandma and granddad.  Like his big brother, as soon as his feet hit the cool green grass, he fell in love with going barefoot and ran all over the place.  Since he usually ran me into the ground, I decided that first morning that he could handle walking Chloe with me.  I would have to slow our pace for him, but I was sure his active little legs could handle the distance.

             The boys and I started out ahead and then I called Chloe to follow.  Usually she is out front waiting for me, prancing impatiently, but Chloe is not your average dog.  She is a bit of an oxymoron—a scaredy-cat of a dog.  She is positive that everything on two feet is out to get her.  She is not afraid of us, nor of Lucas, but no one else can get near her.  Not even, as it turns out, a twenty-month old toddler.

              But that didn’t keep the toddler from trying.  As soon as he saw Chloe, Judah left the path along the fence and headed through the field toward her.  As soon as Chloe saw Judah, she took off running.  He sped up and I held my breath as he plowed through vines, briars, blackberries and stinging nettles.  I took off after him, sure that his soft baby skin would be scratched, torn, and bloody.  He single-mindedly waded on through, leaving a trail of bent and broken greenery behind, until finally I caught up and scooped him into my arms.  With his mind still on his goal, he pointed toward Chloe and said, “Dog.  Wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh-wuhf!”

              I checked him over and he was fine, not a mark on him, no blood, no rashes, no stickers poking out of tender little fingers or toes.  So I put him down, this time on the garden path, and called Chloe to resume our walk--and it started all over again.  Judah chased, Chloe ran, and I followed.  This wasn’t going to work.   Finally I got the garden wagon, put Judah in it, and Chloe followed behind at what she deemed a safe distance--about thirty feet.  But every time Judah’s head swiveled to her and his little finger pointed, she veered from the path and dropped back another foot or two, until reassured that the dangerous little predator wouldn’t come swooping in and nab her unexpectedly.

              We had gone out that morning to walk Chloe.  Judah certainly didn’t have the goal in mind when we went for that walk.  That’s why he couldn’t stay on the path.  I realized not long afterward, though, that he did have a goal in mind.  It was just not the same goal as mine.  I wanted to walk the dog.  He wanted to experience the dog. 

              I think too many times we live our lives aimlessly.  We just let it happen, and then wonder why things went south.  We have no plan for improvement, no strategy for overcoming—we don’t even notice the temptation coming!  I found dozens of verses using the words aim, goal, and purpose.  I found others listing the things we should be looking for or to or toward.  Do you really think God has no purpose for you?

              I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me. Psa 57:2. 

              ​The LORD has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. Prov 16:4.

              If God has a purpose for the evil people in the world, then certainly He has one for His children.  So if He has a purpose for us, shouldn’t we be acting with purpose?  We are familiar with the concept of “purposing” our contributions, but why do you assemble where you do?  To be entertained?  Because this group is loving and makes me feel good?  Because I like the singing?  I know a lot of people who assemble with those goals in mind.  How about these instead:  I assemble here to serve others, even if they don’t serve me; I am here to learn and be admonished, even if they do step on my toes; I am here to participate in those acts we are to do as an “assembly” even if I don’t particularly care for the method used in getting that done.  Do you see?  When I have this sort of purpose, it stops being all about ME.

              Why do you work for a living?  Do you know the reason Paul gives?  “So you may have something to share with anyone in need.”  Eph 4:28.  Is that why you work?  I bet it’s not why your neighbor works.  And here we get to the point.  Judah and I did not share goals that morning, so we did not share paths either.  Are you sharing your neighbor’s path, or are you on a better one?  You ought to be.

              The world may look at how you live and shake its head.  There you go trudging through tall grass, sharp thorns, and clinging vines when the path they are taking is so much easier.  Paul had given up the goal of status among the Jewish leaders, along with potential wealth and fame.  “But whatever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of Christ,” he said.  His goal in life had changed and so his path had as well.  I am sure his former colleagues and teachers looked with disbelief on the things he left behind and the causes he took up.  “But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil 3:7,13,14, just like that little toddler pressed on that morning.

              What is your goal?  You should have one every day, not just on Sundays, although that would be a good start for a lot of people.  Maybe the first thing you should do is look around and see who is on the same path you are.  That might give you pause to consider.
 
He exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose, Acts 11:23.
 
Dene Ward

Judah began noticing the birds at my bird feeders before he was two years old.  When he came to visit, he loved to sit in my lap by the window and point.  "Look at the buhds," he would say, in a voice reminiscent of his daddy at that age.  "A red one!  See?  And a blue one!"
 
             Before long he finally saw the hummingbird feeder hanging outside the dining room window.  He loved to watch the "little buhds" while he ate.

              Then one time when they were staying with us while mom and dad were out of town, Keith told him the little birds were eating just like he was, that they stuck their noses in the hole of the feeder and used them like a straw to suck up the nectar.  Oops!  Not a minute later, this ingenious little 20 month old was trying to maneuver his nose over the straw of his juice cup and suck it up just like a hummingbird.  Quickly we explained that people can't do that because it would not go into their tummies like it does for the "little birds."  He seemed skeptical, but he stopped trying.

              The next day we came to the table right after watching the cardinals peck up bird seed from the trough at my other window.  Once again the hummingbirds flew in for dinner while we ate.  Judah sat and thought a minute then said, "Red birds don't have long noses.  They eat like this," and he bent over and banged his little mouth against the wooden table trying to peck.  That time he stopped himself, holding his little hand against his red lip.  I looked closely.  It wasn't bleeding but he had a fat lip for a day or two.

              Children will mimic anyone and, it seems, anything.  Even birds.  Which is why it is important to be so careful around them.  Silas at three was parroting (pun intended) me and his Granddad.  Not that we were using bad language, but it just startles you so to hear it and realize that you use certain words and phrases often enough for them to pick up on.

              And not just your words, or even your actions.  Children will also pick up your attitudes—about people, about life, about God, about your brothers and sisters in the faith, about sin and evil in the world--about other drivers!  That means we must be vigilant as parents, grandparents, and teachers of children in any capacity, because we can also teach them what is right and good.

              A few years ago, Mona Charen wrote an article about a study by the National Institutes of Health examining children who experienced all sorts of care—large institutional day care, nursery schools, relative care, nannies, dads, and stay-at-home moms.  The findings were not well received by the feminists.  "Children who spent significant amounts of time in care with people other than their own mothers were three times as likely as home-reared children to be aggressive, defiant, impatient, and attention-demanding…The effects really begin to kick in when a child spends more than 30 hours a week in alternative care."

              And do you know why that is?  Because children in daycare are mimicking other children.  Children at home are mimicking adults who, we hope, are mature and exhibit all the qualities you eventually want your child to have.

              If you want your children to grow up to be godly, kind, merciful servants of God who know his Word, make sure that is what you are.  Whether you like it or not, he will do exactly what you show him how to do.
 
So these nations feared the LORD and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children's children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day. (2Kgs 17:41)
 
Dene Ward

One of the benefits of becoming a birdwatcher is learning their songs.  It’s been a few years now, and every year I learn another call or sometimes unlearn one I thought I knew.  For the longest time I thought I was hearing a cardinal, when it was really a wren, but now I know them instantly. 
 
             I also know now that the same bird produces more than one call.  A cardinal will peep, one high light note at a time, or he will purty, purty, purty, or what, what, what, what, or even cheer, cheer, cheer, cheer, cheer.  It all depends upon whether he is courting a female, defending his territory from other males, warning other birds of interlopers, or just contentedly enjoying his meal.  But whichever call he uses, now I know it.

              Some bird songs are deceptive.  A mourning dove sounds like some kind of soft-spoken owl.  A blue jay’s whistle might sound a bit like a cuckoo to someone who is used to listening to cuckoo clocks.  And did you know that the movies often use a hawk’s call when an eagle is pictured because it sounds much more regal for our national bird than the squawk an eagle usually produces?  And so you have to be educated to these sounds to know them, to distinguish one from the other. 

              The same is true of the Bible.  The things I see people falling for astonish me.  How could they possibly believe such craziness?  How?  Because they have never educated themselves in the scriptures.  If you know the general teaching of the Bible, the general layout of the plot (yes, there is one), more than that, if you know the God and the Christ presented in those Scriptures, you won’t fall for the false teachings out there.  You may not know exactly what is wrong, but your mind will instantly say, “Wait a minute.  Something doesn’t sound right.”

              You can only do that by paying attention to everything Jesus says, not just the parts you like.  Too many of us don’t want a Savior who demands that we follow him only, that we give up ourselves, our likes and dislikes, our loyalties and loves, and who makes statements like, “Sin no more,” and “You are of your father the devil.”  We want the loving Jesus who forgives sins and holds the little children in his lap.  To truly accept Jesus is to accept all of his words and ways, not just the parts we prefer.  “The sheep follow the shepherd,” Jesus says, “because they know his voice” John 10:3.  Even the stern, disciplinary voice.

              Jesus is our Good Shepherd.  We must learn all of his words in order to truly know him and not be deceived.  All who came before me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen, John 10:8.  I’m afraid too many of us would listen, and become lost sheep in the process.

              Do you know his voice?  If you don’t know the whole of Jesus and God’s word, you don’t.  If I can learn a couple dozen bird calls in such a short amount of time, surely you can learn the call of a Savior who wants you to know him in even less. 
 
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32
 
Dene Ward

Go back about 12 years and read about the bird feeder Keith built for me next to the window.  When I remember those first few years I want to laugh at my ignorant self. 

             The first birds that showed up were cardinals.  Those I knew, and I was thrilled to be able to see them so closely for the first time in my life.  What was less than thrilling was seeing those ugly females.  They did not look like the pictures in the books, smooth olive green with red tinges on the edges of wings and crest.  Some of these were a muddy brown all over.  Some were mottled gray.  And the crests looked like a bad hair day times ten.  When the juveniles first appeared, they looked even worse—a little bit like human adolescents, lanky, lean, and awkward with spiky crests that never laid back straight, and splotchy, molting feathers as the young males began to grow their signature red coats.  But at least I knew what they were.

             When the first tufted titmouse arrived, it took me over a week to figure out what it was.  Ignorance in the bird watching world means you have to look at page after page after page and when the bird tires of eating and flies away, you no longer have anything to compare it with.  For several days I was sure it was a gray gnatcatcher, and proudly told everyone else who sat at my window and showed some interest.  I really do not remember when I finally learned the truth.  It probably was a matter of getting more and more information and seeing more and more pictures until finally the real identity of this bird became apparent.
 
            After a while I learned what to really focus on, not just colors, but also things like crests, eye rings, and wing bars.  The details make the difference when it comes to some species. Otherwise they look exactly alike.  It also helps to have photos instead of drawings.  As careful as I know the wildlife artists are, they still have a tendency to draw the ideal version of that particular bird.  It's like the difference between a glamor shot and a right out of bed before makeup shot.

            Then I got a book containing only Florida birds.  It cost a pretty penny, especially for something the size of a large wallet, but it has made all the difference in how quickly I can locate and identify a bird.  No more being "absolutely certain" only to discover that the bird in question never flies east of the Mississippi.  This particular book has only photographs, and it also explains things such as their flying patterns and activities that can help you identify the bird, plus which other birds bear a close resemblance and how to tell them apart, and whether they are only here for a season or all year.  If the book says this particular bird is only around in winter and here it is July, you know you are looking at the wrong picture.  The book also divides the birds by their color, a real boon in saving time.  Identifying birds has become much less work and much more fun simply because I am not so stone cold ignorant as I was in the beginning.

            Unless you plan to be an ornithologist, you can learn most of what you need to know about birds like I have—reading, looking at pictures, and especially, watching the birds themselves.  Now when I sit and watch, I know what to look for, I have a general knowledge of when to look for certain ones.  We only have goldfinches for a couple days in the fall when they migrate south and in the spring when they head back home.  Although we have sparrows and catbirds around all year, they will only come to the feeder between November and April.  Otherwise they like to fend for themselves, thank you.  That bird that always sits on leafless limbs, then flies down to the ground and back up to the same limb over and over is a phoebe.  And that behavior is called hawking.  See what I have learned because I really wanted to?

            Guess what?  Bible study is similar to this.  When you don't know what you are doing, you make some ridiculous mistakes.  When you aren't familiar with the scriptures at all, you hardly know where to begin and how to make all the facts you uncover fit together into a coherent picture.  The only way to fix this is to keep at it.  I have been watching my birds for over a decade now, and only now can I recognize a couple dozen different birds, their sounds, and some of their activities.  Now I know that bird in the tree that won't sit still more than a few seconds is probably a bug-eater rather than a seed eater.  Bugs move and seeds don't!

            Bible study will only become easier for you when you have spent some time at it—and I don't mean a few minutes a day for ten years.  I mean many minutes a day for years and years and years.  It may be easy to understand the basics of how to please God, most of us were raised with that.  But when it comes to the details, it takes a lot more time than reading your chapter a day like a good girl.  When you have put the time into it, you will know what to look for and how to find it.  You will recognize allusions to other passages.  Maybe you will see the worth in spending a little bit of money on Bible resources.  Maybe you will overcome your timidity and ask someone to help you.  I know good solid Christians who would love to help you.  I would love to.  I go all over the place speaking to groups of women, and my husband would be happy to speak to their men. 

            And the more you know, they more things will begin to click, the more light bulb moments you will have, and gradually, the stronger your faith will become.  After all, faith does come by hearing the Word of God.  If you cannot find time to spend with God's message to you, how can you ever expect to have enough of that faith to overcome, to endure, and to please God?

            You may be just a beginning Word Watcher.  But you can become so much more.
 
How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word.​  With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments!  I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Ps 119:9-11)
 
Dene Ward