Who Feeds The Birds?

Have you read Matthew 6:26? It 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. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Many Christians are familiar with this scripture in which Jesus talks about the heavenly Father feeding birds. Yet, some have misapplied the lesson. What is the lesson in Matthew 6:26?

The context of what Jesus was talking about in the Gospel of Matthew concerned not getting mentally distracted about the physical things that we need. When he spoke of the Father feeding the birds, he also mentioned a couple of other comparisons as well to make the point that we don't have to be anxious, but rather, we can trust in our heavenly Father to supply.

He said that being anxious or mentally distracted would not increase our physical height. He said to consider the lilies of the field and how God arrays the grass of the field with their glory. He went on to tell us that our heavenly Father knows the things that we need; we should seek Him first and all else would be added.

It's a great lesson about how to handle anxiety over the everyday things that we need in life, like food, drink, and clothing. In our present economy, there are people who are anxious about daily necessities. This teaching helps us to deal with that kind of stress.

Over the years I have heard people making reference to Matthew 6, especially the part about our heavenly Father feeding the birds. They enjoy how Jesus obviously pointed out that we are much better than birds. And, so they conclude that the Father will just have to feed them too, like He does the birds.

Have you ever considered how the Father feeds the birds? Does He get up very early, and in a very large bucket, gather as many worms as He can? And then, does He go to every bird on earth, open its beak, and toss in a worm?

That sounds silly, doesn't it? It sounds about as silly as some people who say things like, "Well Jesus said that I'm better than a bird, so the heavenly Father just has to do something. He has to take care of me; He's just got to do something."

Jesus said to behold, or consider the fowls of the air. He then pointed out the obvious, that they do not sow seed in a field, and do not reap in the field. We all know that there are no bird barns for food storage, right?

Then, after explaining the obvious, he told us that our heavenly Father feeds them. So, again, how does the Father feed them? Their provision is out there; it is called the food chain.

God is not going to bring a worm or seed to every bird, open their beak and feed them. Nor is He going to bring every bird to the food supply. He has provided it, but it is up to the birds to go and get it.

Jesus told us that the Father already knows we have needs. The context, complete with very clear illustrations, was to not get mentally distracted or stressed out about those things. He wanted us to know, we are better than a bird in God's eyes!

Some years later, the Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians to remind them that God would supply all their need. He wrote to the Corinthians to tell them that God was able to make all grace abound so that they would have sufficiency in all things. And to the Ephesians he wrote that God was able to do exceeding abundantly above all they could ask or think.

If we then are better than the birds, and, the Father has abundantly supplied for them, then He surely must have supplied for us. Numerous verses in the New Testament clearly indicate that. But, just like the birds, we need to go out and get it.

Following the lesson that Jesus taught, we are not stressed out because we know that our heavenly Father has already supplied. We keep Him first in our lives. And then we have our eyes open, expecting to see His supply for us.

How much more confidence do we have, considering that He has supplied plenty for the birds and that we are so much better than birds? How much greater is our expectation when we read verses in the New Testament of His abundant supply for us? And, how joyful and thankful we are when we actively go out get that which we need, which He has supplied.

Just as our heavenly Father feeds the birds, He feeds us too, by providing us an abundant supply.


------

Michael A. Verdicchio offers a FREE eBook, "9 Keys to Answered Prayer!" for signing up for his FREE weekly news letter, "The Pep Letter," at:
http://www.ConfidenceAndJoy.com
Michael is a husband, father, minister, author, broadcaster and the voice on numerous projects and productions, Get a FREE Lifetime Membership to EnrichingYourLifeNow.com when you subscribe for FREE to his inspiring blog.