The Source
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17).
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord (Psalm 150:6).
I have a confession to make. I’m the guy who feeds crows and squirrels early in the morning. I understand that some (perhaps many) of you may feel that I’m giving sustenance to the enemy, but I’ll counter with the statement that ALL creatures are God’s creatures. Unless, of course, the squirrels and crows tear up my garden, in which case they are obviously creatures sent by the OTHER team.
Now, crows have excellent vision – I haven’t seen one bespectacled crow yet. So they sit on a telephone wire some distance away. And watch. And wait. As if in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. When I finally open the door and throw out peanuts, they immediately fly over.
For some time now, I’ve been operating under a kind of fantasy, a delusion if you will, namely that the squirrels, crows, and bluejays that I feed every morning recognize me and are joyous in my presence. When my front door opens, then, for them, THAT is the source of their daily blessing of food. They look no further than me. Why should they?
Perhaps you remember a similar scenario in the Bible when great numbers of people wandering in the desert were fed every morning when the doors of Heaven were opened, and manna rained down upon the earth. In the evening, there was an abundance of quail.
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days” (Exodus 16:4-5).
Why did God do this?
The Lord said to Moses,“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight, you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God’” (Exodus 16:11-12).
Do we know this? Do we know where our blessings come from? Do we give God the Glory and Honor that are due Him? Do we have a humble heart filled with gratitude and lips filled with praise?
Too often, we behave like the crows and squirrels. We know where to find our daily resources. Enough for today’s needs and the excess to bury for the coming lean times. For food, we go to the grocery store, where everything magically appears. For clothing, we go to any number of department stores. For almost anything you can think of, we go online. We call a delivery service, and food comes to us. How awesome is that? I think a certain Tishbite named Elijah used Doordash:
The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook (1 Kings 17:6).
For many of us, Amazon represents the source of all material things. It is the floodgate that opens, releasing a cornucopia of products into our lives.
But Who is the “Hidden Figure” behind the door, not just the Amazon door, but ALL doors that open in our lives to provide blessings for us and our families? Isn’t that Figure the One who desires a relationship with us? So let us no longer dissemble but cut out the middle man and go straight to the Source with our Praise and our Gratitude.
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?” For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly 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. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:25-34).
Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him, all creatures here below
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
– Doxology, by Thomas Ken