Great blue herons are seen throughout Northern Minnesota, where
my wife and I sometimes canoe to an island rookery and view hundreds of them
nesting atop the tallest trees. These
stork-like birds are typically loners, but this unique island is stained white
from years of bird droppings.
One morning I scanned a nearby
marsh and saw a motionless heron standing at water’s edge, and moments later it
plunged with its dagger-like beak and lifted a pierced northern pike from the
water. In one smooth motion it thrust
the two foot pike into the air and caught it expertly so that the fish slid head
first down the heron’s long neck.
I wondered what would
happen next, and imagined the sensation of that large thrashing fish in my
stomach. How would the bird be able to
fly after such a hefty breakfast? As I
watched, I got my answer – the bird didn’t fly.
Instead, it turned and waddled into the marsh where it digested its meal.
Later, I was reminded of
this experience when I read Matthew 6, where Jesus says, “Look at the birds of
the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly
Father feeds them.” Jesus’ take is that
our frenetic grasping is due to worry about the future, and he wants us to
learn from nature about God’s generous provision.
This is an impossible
lesson for those who believe everything is up to them. They are trapped because they have never
known that God provides, as when John D. Rockefeller was asked “how much would
be enough?” He answered “just a little bit more,” even though his wealth was
almost 2% of total US GDP!
As Jesus develops his
thought, he says that the reason God wants us to learn that he provides is so
we can give attention to greater matters.
Of these material things, he says, “your Father knows that you need
them. But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
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