Birds Animals - Dene's Blog

What's for Dinner?

5/5/2015 0 Comments

We saw a new bird darting in and out of the azalea limbs on the side of the house away from the feeder, a small black bird with a white belly and orange patches on its wings and tail—an American Redstart, I discovered later, a bug-eater, which explained why he avoided the bird feeder. I don’t know why it had never crossed my mind before—no wonder I only saw a few birds there, the same varieties over and over. Birdseed simply does not appeal to all birds. Now if I could figure out a way to keep live bugs there too and allow the birds to come and go as they please, I would see a big increase in numbers.

   What people see of the gospel in our lives determines who and even if we attract others to it. I can remember times past when we were so afraid of unscriptural denominational doctrines that we swung the pendulum too hard in the other direction and wound up being miserable. Since the scriptures plainly teach that it is possible to fall from grace and that humility is necessary for salvation, we never allowed ourselves to say, “I know I am going to Heaven.” Why, how arrogant could one be? Don’t you know that you can sin so as to lose your salvation? So hope, a confident expectation of salvation, disappeared from our lives.

   We treated sin as a constant, a mysterious miasma that afflicted us every day of our lives whether we knew it or not. “Forgive us, Lord, for we know we sin all the time.” We thought we could not avoid it no matter how hard we tried, not even with help from the Lord. So we went around looking over our shoulders, wondering when it would attack us and hoping that when we died we would have seen death coming and had time to shoot off a quick prayer for forgiveness.

   What did we present to the world? Fear, frustration, hopelessness, anxiety, bitterness, dread, desperation—and then we looked to our neighbors and said, “Hey! Don’t you want what I have?” Why were we so surprised when none did?

   I think we would attract far more to our “feeder” if we showed them the joy, hope, peace, and love that the first century Christians did. We can because the scriptures plainly teach that we can overcome sin if we will and that God’s grace will help us when we fail; they teach that we can be assured of our salvation. God is not sitting up there watching and waiting for us to slip so He can say, “Aha! Gotcha!”

   What’s on your bird feeder today? The seed of the Word of God, or just a bunch of bugs?

My little children, these things write I unto you that you may not sin. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world…These things have I written unto you, that you may know that ye have eternal life, even unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God. 1 John 2:1,2; 5:13.

Dene Ward

Turkey Necks

4/8/2015 0 Comments

We have two wild turkeys coming to the feeder these days, a brand new development. We knew they were out there in the woods—you can here the toms gobbling and the hens clucking early in the morning and in the hours of dusk. Then last fall we saw four traipsing across our garden in the middle of the day. A young visitor that day heard Keith and her father talking about “turkey season,” and I heard her whispering, “Run turkeys! Run!” And they did.
   Then in the middle of winter one morning I looked out and there stood a turkey hen under the south feeder pecking at the fallen birdseed. She visited every day for awhile and eventually found her way around the house to the other two feeders. Gradually she became used to us, and now we can go out on one side of the house without her leaving the opposite side at a “turkey trot.” She will even let us move by the window inside, where she can see us clearly, without running away.
   Then one afternoon there she was again, only she looked a little different, didn’t she? Maybe her neck was thicker we said, and then one of us moved in our chairs and she ran down the trellis bed and actually flew over the fence. Turkeys do not like to fly, so she must have been terrified. That’s when we put two and two together and realized we now had two turkeys, one with a thinner neck who has learned that we won’t bother her, and one with a thicker neck who still thinks we are some sort of predator out to get her. Isn’t it odd that it’s the skinnier turkey that is the least frightened?
   That is an apt metaphor for the people of Israel. They were the country with the skinniest neck, yet throughout their history they routed huge armies or saw them turned back by “circumstances.” They watched God’s power work when no other country their size, nor even some larger, could withstand the enemy. But despite that ongoing evidence, only a few learned to depend upon God, only a few saw the chariots of the Lord on the hilltops around them (2 Kings 6:12-18). Only a few of them had faith and courage like this:
   And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, 2 Chron 14:11.
   Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright, Psa 20:7,8.
   Eventually there weren’t enough faithful to save them from destruction. Eventually God had to remove the ones He thought had some potential and send the prophets to ready them for a return, but even then only a small remnant came back. Many of them were still frightened turkeys, and they were well aware of how skinny their necks were.
   Learn the lesson those people didn’t. God has given you evidence every day of your life that He is with you. If you think otherwise, you just haven’t noticed. Trials in your life are not an indication that He is not with you. Paul told the Romans that “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword,” none of those could separate us from the love of Christ—not that they would never happen!
   Be ready to stand against whatever army Satan throws at you, knowing that the chariots of God are twice ten thousand, thousands upon thousands; [and] the Lord is among them, Psa 68:17.

Dene Ward

Cooped Up

2/24/2015 0 Comments

Keith says I have a personality disorder—I think my name is Francis and I was born in Assisi. Can I help it if the hawk insisted on having a conversation with me this morning?
   I haven’t been out for awhile due to one thing and another, but he must remember me from all the times I went out while he was a baby and spoke to him up in his nest. So whenever I am outside and he is anywhere nearby, he gives me a shout, and I say hello.
   I had my trekking poles so I could give Chloe a little bit of exercise. She is a bit like her mistress, prone to gaining weight at the slightest sniff of food, forget about actually eating it, and she needed a walk. After our first greeting across the fence from one another, the hawk flew behind me and caught up, still staying in the trees on the other side of the boundary, but a little closer this time.
   I told him he should come on over. If he wanted to stay safe, we had plenty of trees, plenty of food—he should have known that anyway. His parents had sat on the tomato fence in our garden, diving for mice, squirrels, rabbits, and other goodies that they took to him for supper every night, way up high in the pine tree to the east. I kept walking and again he flew to catch up, but once again landed on the other side of the fence.
   When we reached the point where the path cut inward to the center of our property, I told him it was time for him to make his decision. “Come on,” I told him. “You’ve been here before. You grew up here. You know it’s a good place and a safe place. If you stay over there, who is going to look after you?”
   I waited a minute then turned and headed down the path toward the drive. His wings flapped behind me like a big rug flapping on a clothesline in the wind. I turned, only to see he was headed away, deeper into the woods.
   I suspect I will still hear from him once in awhile and even see him again. At least until that time when something nabs him and he stops showing up. It’s a pity. He would last longer if he stayed close by, but now some neighbor may shoot him just for fun, or he may stray into some other hawk’s territory and lose the fight for it. That’s what happens when you turn your back because all you can see is restrictions instead of safety, and when all you want to see of the other side of the fence is freedom instead of danger. Sooner or later, one way or the other, it will be too late to come back.

In the fear of Jehovah is strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge. The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life, that one may depart from the snares of death. Prov 14:26,27.

Dene Ward

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An Outstretched Hand

2/12/2015 0 Comments

Keith went out in the dark one night last summer 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

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Fowl Weather Friends

2/10/2015 0 Comments

The catbird is back. Finally the weather is turning and he is back for an easy meal. Funny how he only comes to the feeder when finding his own food becomes too difficult. The rest of the year I do not have the pleasure of his handsome company. He is flying out there enjoying himself with scarcely a thought in my direction.
   How many times do we usually pray in a day? How many conversations do we have with a Father who loves us more than anything else? If you are like me, I call many more times when things are difficult than when they are going well. That may be normal, but does that make it right? Any parent worth the name wants his child to call when he needs help, would, in fact, be angry if he did not receive such a call, but it certainly goes down better when those calls come at other times too, doesn’t it?
   Solomon set forth the principle in Proverbs when he personified wisdom as a woman offering her gift to any who needed it. Too few take her up on the offer and she says, Because I have called and you refused to listen, I have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded, because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof, I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you, when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me, Prov 1:24-28.
   Oh, but that would never happen with God, some will say. Jesus loves everyone, even the vilest sinner. Neither will ever refuse to help someone who asks. Listen to the words God spoke through Isaiah to his chosen people, who continually fell away, repented when times got hard, only to fall away yet again. I will destine you to the sword, and all of you shall bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you did not listen, but you did what was evil in my eyes and chose what I did not delight in, Isa 65:12.
   We want this relationship to be one with a revolving door-- we can come in and out of it as we please. We want to live like we choose to live and then come running to God for help when our foolish choices bring us pain and misery. We expect Him to snatch us from the jaws of disaster and make everything right again. That’s what He’s supposed to do! But God will not tolerate being used; He has a right to expect certain behavior from us. Even if He were not so good to us, He is still our Creator and that gives Him the ultimate authority in everything we do. Perhaps one of the biggest dangers of living in a democracy is thinking we have rights when it comes to our dealings with an Almighty God.
   Are you like the catbird who only comes calling when times are tough, or are you there every day, building a relationship with your Father through constant communication, obedience, and dependence? Maybe you should make an appointment with Him sometime in the next few minutes.

They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them…Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble, Jer 11:10,14.

Dene Ward

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Bug Eaters

12/5/2014 0 Comments

We have recently discovered phoebes on our property, seven inch gray birds with light olive bellies and a slightly darker head. Even though we have been birding for eight years now, this is the first we have seen of these. Being insect eaters, seed-filled feeders hold no interest for them, so I have never seen one from my chair by the window. They are strictly carnivores.
   Their behavior is what gives them away—their “hawking.” They sit on a bare tree branch and watch the ground below. When a bug catches their eye, they swoop down for the kill, then fly right back to the same branch, and wait for another. Sort of bloodthirsty for such a cute little bird.
   They have been using the trees on the edge of the garden, a place where insects abound and we are happy to have their help ridding the plants of them. Now we have a much smaller fall garden, a few peppers and tomatoes, and the cooler temperatures mean fewer bugs. Maybe that is why they have moved in closer, sitting atop tomato posts, waiting for their prey to creep by.
   And last week we saw yet another new bug eater. Keith planted about 70% of the garden in sorghum. The huge seed heads on these plants attract both wildlife and birds. That was his main intention—to help feed the seed-eating birds and perhaps attract even more to the feeders closer to the house. That sorghum patch is where we saw the new bird, a five inch olive green bird, with a yellow throat, a black mask, and a long thin beak. My bird books tell us he is a yellowthroat, one of the many varieties of warbler. He, too, practices hawking and being smaller and lighter he can perch on the head of those thin-stemmed sorghum plants without bending them over. He is not there for the seeds but, like the phoebes, to watch for any bugs that crawl by. Sometimes he is lucky and one will be deeply imbedded in the seed head itself. All he has to do is lean over and probe with that long thin beak deep between those seeds. Lunch, without even having to dive for it.
   That is not why we planted sorghum. It is not why we put posts by the tomatoes. Yet right now, the phoebes and the yellowthroats are getting more out of the garden than we are.
   Sometimes Satan gets more use out of the good things we try to do than God does. How many times has a healthy pastime become more important to us than our spiritual health? I’ve seen women so concerned about their figures that they would no longer offer or accept meal invitations from other Christians, nor cook and take a meal to the needy. I’ve seen Christian men spend more time toning up their physical muscles than studying to tone up their spiritual ones. They won’t miss a work-out, but personal Bible study is a sometime thing.
   How many times has the job which was meant to support the family become an all-consuming career that robbed a home of involved parents or a spouse of a supposedly committed and devoted mate? How many times has the money earned led to greed instead of generosity, and a dependence upon self rather than God?
   Just because something is not inherently sinful, doesn’t mean evil cannot come from it. Just because you intend good from it, doesn’t mean the Devil can’t find a way to produce the opposite.
   One thing about those phoebes and yellowthroats—they make an excellent example of careful watching; their lives depend upon it. Take a moment today to sit still and quiet and really look at the things in your life and what they are producing. Your spiritual life depends upon it.

His beautiful ornament they used for pride, and they made their abominable images and their detestable things of it. Therefore I make it an unclean thing to them, Ezek 7:20.

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Moles

10/22/2014 0 Comments

Chloe doesn’t have much of a sense of smell thanks to her doggie allergies, which alternately cause congestion or a runny nose. We can throw her a treat and then sit for several minutes unbothered while she searches for it in the grass. But her sense of hearing must be amazing.

   She can distinguish our car engine all the way from the highway, almost a half mile. I’ve seen her sit there and watch for Keith for several minutes before he even gets to the gate, before the dogs along the lane begin to bark at his passing because she hears “him” coming.

   And she can hear moles digging underground. We will be walking along outside when suddenly she stands at point, looking at the grass just ahead of her, then pounces and begins digging, her snout in nearly to her eyeballs as she digs and sniffs (bless her heart, she tries) and searches. Many times she has brought out the mole and disposed of it. This year we have had plenty for her to work on.

   Moles are small mammals, insectivores, adapted to a subterranean lifestyle. They have tiny or invisible eyes and ears. They have developed the ability to survive in a low oxygen environment by reusing oxygen inhaled aboveground. That also means they can tolerate the higher levels of carbon dioxide that would poison most mammals. They avoid each other except in breeding season and fight whenever they do meet. I couldn’t even find a word for a group of moles. They aren’t herds or swarms or gaggles or flocks. Maybe that’s because the word is unnecessary since they never get together.

   Think about all that. Does it sound familiar?

   Do you know any people with small eyes and ears, many of whom are blind?

   Why do you not understand my speech? [Even] because you cannot hear my word, John 8:43.

   In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor 4:4.

   Do you know a group who reuses old oxygen, failing to bring in any new work to revitalize its heart, poisoning itself in the process?

   Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, Mark 7:13.

   Do you know a group that avoids each other except in season (Sundays) and then fights when they do meet?

   Whence [come] wars and whence [come] fightings among you? [come they] not hence, [even] of your pleasures that war in your members? James 4:1.

   But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another, Gal 5:15.

   If all that sounds like a group you know, even if they call themselves the body of Christ, they are only pretenders. That is not what he gave his life for
.
   I am certain you could come up with other comparisons yourself. But don’t waste your time on that or you are in danger of becoming one of those moles yourself, festering underground in your own poison. Just do what you can by being what you ought to be. Moles are ugly, in more ways than one. It shouldn’t take much motivation to try not to become one.

"There are those who rebel against the light, who are not acquainted with its ways, and do not stay in its paths. The murderer rises before it is light, that he may kill the poor and needy, and in the night he is like a thief. The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight, saying, 'No eye will see me'; and he veils his face. In the dark they dig through houses; by day they shut themselves up; they do not know the light. Job 24:13-16.

Dene Ward

The Dead Possum

10/9/2014 0 Comments

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   Possums, or more properly “opossums,” can be a nuisance. They rummage in the garbage, they poke about in the shed, and they ramble into the garden destroying perfectly good melons with a bite or two out of each one. That is one reason we have dogs, and Magdi has done better than any other at solving the problem For awhile we had to bury one every day; she must have come across some sort of Possumopolis out in the woods.

   One morning Keith found yet another as he was leaving for work, but he was so late he had no time to properly dispose of it. It was my turn to do the honors. I have come a long way in 36 years, but I still won’t pick up a dead thing, even with big thick gloves. So I got the shovel.

   I am glad my neighbors are not close. I stuck the shovel edge down by the possum and pushed, assuming it would just slide under the offensive creature so I could carry it out to the woods and let nature do the disposal work. Instead, the shovel just pushed the possum along. I tried again, and again, and again.   Every time I pushed, the possum moved farther and I wound up following it in a circle around the field. This possum might as well have been alive it was making such a merry chase.

   Meanwhile Magdi stood to the side. She looked at me like I was nuts, but she also looked at me like she would really like to have her possum back. Occasionally she lunged at the possum as I made the circle yet again passing her on the right. So there I was pushing a dead possum in a circle around the yard with a shovel, while yelling at the dog at regular intervals, like some sort of bizarre ritualistic dance.

   I stopped, winded and frustrated, and found myself next to the oak tree across the driveway from the well. The answer struck me, if only I had the energy left. I pushed the shovel again. Again it pushed the possum, this time right against the tree and the tree held it there for me as the shovel slid beneath it. Success!

   I lifted the shovel--and the possum rolled right off of it. Somehow I kept from screaming. Okay, I told myself. You have learned something. Possums are heavy and you have to hold the shovel handle tightly so it won’t tip. I tried again, pushing the possum up against the tree and lifting the shovel, this time ready for the shifting weight. Now I just had to get it to the woods. It was a several hundred yard trip, and that possum at the end of the shovel got heavier and heavier.

   About halfway there I knew I was not going to make it, so rather than let the thing drop in a clearing where there were no trees to push against, I carefully lowered the shovel to the ground. As much as I hated to, I had to move my hand farther down the handle, closer to the possum so the weight would be easier to manage. I did, and it was easier, so much easier I could even walk faster without being in danger of losing the possum.

   I was already dressed for Bible class and did not want to traipse into the woods among the briars and brush, so I carefully pulled back on the shovel and slung with all my might. So I am not Supergirl. The possum slid off the shovel about five feet into the brush, not much further than the length of the shovel handle. By then, I was ready to call that a great success, and left it.

   As shocking as it might sound, that is the way we treat God sometimes. Instead of rushing into His safe and loving embrace, we keep Him at arm’s length. Like a teenager who is too embarrassed to act like he loves his parents, we are too embarrassed to let our love for God show to those around us. We don’t want to look too weird, too strange, too “fanatical.”

   Early Christians were known for their good works. In fact, that is how they often gave themselves away to their persecutors. They looked and acted so differently from everyone else. No one else was kind and forgiving, even when mistreated. Would our godly behavior give us away under similar circumstances, or would it lump us in with the crowd because our religion has not “contaminated” our lives?

   Even among ourselves we don’t want to say things that might make people look at us askance. It’s like the old joke where the new convert sits in the pews saying, “Amen,” and “Praise God,” only to have some older member take him aside and say, “Son, we don’t praise God here.”

   God wants us close to Him. Think about that for a moment. Our awesome all-powerful Creator wants a relationship with us. He made an incomprehensible sacrifice to make it possible. Maybe we need to be shocked with this analogy, so we will wake up. When we keep Him at arm’s length like something disgusting, we are treating God like a dead possum.

Wherefore also He is able to save to the uttermost them that draw near unto God through Him, seeing He ever lives to make intercession for them…Draw near to God and He will draw near to you, Heb 7:25; James 4:8a.

Dene Ward

Running Around in Circles

9/24/2014 2 Comments

            We have put up several new feeders and the bird population has exploded. We see more new kinds and more of them than ever before. We have also seen a few new bird antics as well.

            Yesterday we looked out in time to see two doves running around the pole one of the feeders hangs from. While cardinals and titmice usually fly the four feet up from the ground to the feeders, the doves are content to peck off the ground what falls, and a great deal does. Pick up the binoculars and watch the seeds fly every time one of the birds “on high” pecks at it. Meanwhile, down below, the doves revel in the raining plenty.

            Except those two. For several minutes they chased one another around and around and around that pole, the one trying to shoo the other away from the free meal. Occasionally the one in front got far enough ahead to stop and peck a seed, but the one behind, running literally ankle deep in food, never got a bite.

            Kind of reminds me of a few Bible classes I have sat in. Two men wrapped up in their own opinions, chase one another around in circles with their “logic,” and neither one of them get any of the spiritual nourishment being offered that morning. Or one man desperately tries to have his meal while another of differing opinion cannot allow it and pursues him with “arguments about words.” In fact, if the man isn’t careful, he will usually be cornered right after class as the chase continues. Like those two birds I watched that day, neither one is fed, despite the banquet laid right in front of them.

            Paul calls that sort of behavior “carnal” and immature, 1 Cor 3:1-3. He equates it with orgies and drunkenness, Rom 13:13. James puts it on a par with “every vile practice,” 3:16. All of them link quarreling with things like jealousy, envy, hostility, and selfishness. James even adds murder and adultery to the mix, 4:1-4. It is one thing to have a spirited discussion of the Scriptures. It is another entirely to refuse to consider new ideas, clinging to beliefs out of pride or dismissing a point simply because of who presented it, all cloaked in concern for words and their correct meanings while patently ignoring basic spiritual concepts like Divine authority and holiness.

            Our spiritual meals are presented to help us glorify God, not to exalt ourselves over others. They are food for the soul, not ammunition for the spiteful.   They are nourishment for the kind, not fodder for the vindictive. If all we can do is chase one another in circles with the Word of God, we don’t deserve to hold those sacred writings in our hands.

            I laughed at those two stupid doves under my feeder. Then I just shook my head and sighed. I have seen too many Christians just like them.

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh, Galatians 5:14-16.

Dene Ward

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A Visit to the Vet

9/2/2014 0 Comments

            We have had a cat more often than not in the past twenty years. All of them were pretty good about doing their work, as most barn cats are—it comes naturally to them to keep the rodents out of the feed sacks. But because they are outdoor cats, they do not have quite the same affinity for human contact as house cats. In fact, it seems that the less they have to do with us, the better they do their job.

            So when it comes time to take this sort of cat to the vet for its shots and check-ups, the process is a real adventure. I remember once, when we put the cat in a box we had carefully aerated, drove 20 miles to the vet, opened the box and there was no cat. We drove back home and found her sitting on the steps, licking her paws, and looking at us with a look of disdain. “Where have you been?” she seemed to be saying with a smirk. We still don’t know how she got out. Her name was Jezebel. Maybe that explains it.

            When we got Jasper we invested in a carrier. The first time I used it, I discovered that this was still not going to be easy. I sat on the porch and called him. He inched his way forward and I just held out my hand until he finally relaxed and let me pet him. After a minute or so, I picked him up and tried to put him in the crate. Immediately, all four sets of claws sprang out and grasped the edges of the opening. It looked like a cartoon as I tried pushing him in while he hung on to the doorframe for dear life. No way was this cat going in there willingly.

            Then I got smart, I thought, and put some food in the carrier. Jasper smelled it immediately, and stuck his head inside. I waited patiently as more and more of him disappeared into the box, then quickly shut the door; but somehow in that tiny space, he managed to turn around and slip out before I could get the clasp fastened.

            By then, he was getting suspicious. He was too leery to even come near me, so I waited a bit. About a half hour later I grabbed a towel and laid it on the porch floor next to me. By then, he was feeling generous again and sauntered up to me for a scratch. After a few minutes, he lay next to me on the towel. With a quick motion, I flipped the towel over his whole body and dumped him unceremoniously into the upended carrier, The little bit of time it took for him to get his claws out of the towel gave me enough time to shut the door without him escaping. Finally we went to the vet.

            Wouldn’t you know it, when we got to the vet, he wouldn’t come out of the carrier? The vet had to dump him out. And when she was finished with him and let him go, he scrambled back in as fast as he could. Little stinker.

            In spite of his unwillingness to go to the vet, it kept him healthy. The shots still worked, even though he really didn’t want them. It doesn’t work that way with righteousness. You can do things that look like righteousness all day long, but if you are doing them from a bad heart, they won’t do a thing for your soul.

            We seem to have a mistaken idea about the Old Law, that all they had to do were “right things,” and that their hearts did not matter. Yet over and over you find instances where the heart most certainly did matter. Take from among you an offering unto Jehovah; whosoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, Ex 35:5. That is just one example among many.

            Doesn’t it mean more to you that Lord offered himself for us willingly? No one takes [my life] away from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. John 10:18. How much would it mean in terms of love if he had done it because he was forced to?

            That is how God looks at us too. How much more does it mean to you when your child brings you a wildflower he picked in the field “just because” than when he sends that expensive arrangement on Mother’s Day, a day when the world practically forces it on him? A buttercup on a Tuesday is far superior to a dozen roses the second Sunday in May.

            God will not force us to obey him, much less love him. He has never accepted the letter of the law without the heart.

And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever, 1 Chron 28:9.

Dene Ward
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