Genesis 1:20-23 New American Standard Bible
20 Then God said, “Let the waters [a]teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth [b]in the open [c]expanse of the heavens.” 21 And God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
As people stand on the beach and look out at the ocean around and sky above, they see that which is essentially an alien atmosphere.
The ocean, in and of itself, is hostile to human life.
We can swim in the ocean, but not for very long.
We can dive into its depths but we cannot go very deep without being crushed.
If we should suddenly be cast into the midst of the ocean without any means of support, into a rip tide or high crashing waves we would not last very long.
We cannot reach its bottom without a special sub, nor could we see the bottom because there is no light without mechanical help – it is absolutely alien to us.
The air above, though it provides oxygen, what we breathe to sustain life, is an alien realm as far as transportation is concerned – planes can only go so high.
Ancient Greek mythology tells the story of Icarus, the young man who dreamed of flying like the gods.
Both he and his father were imprisoned, and in order to escape their prison, his father made wings of feathers and wax.
Although cautioned not to fly too near the sun, Icarus did not listen, and as he soared up into the sky the wings melted, and he fell into the sea and perished.
People have been dreaming of flying without planes for centuries, but they have never been able to do it, apart from flying suits and technology.
So there are two realms in the natural world in which humans are unable to operate effectively and independently.
The crushing depths and darkness of the oceans are a picture of unredeemed and barren humanity, the world without Christ, the world of organized society with its systems of values, its power structures, and its methods of operating.
As Christians, you and I know well the reality that if any individual believers attempt to live in that kind of a world on their own resources, they are doomed.
In that rarified air (Proverbs 3:7) it is not very long before their spiritual life is choked off, thin, suffocated, and they find themselves unable to live spiritually.
Even if they should try to live in the depths of the world’s seas, if they try it on their own physical and spiritual resources, they are doomed, they will drown.
On the other hand, the atmosphere is a picture of the spiritual life, the place where we live in the realm of divine reality, a life that is 100% pleasing to God.
Here again, if individual believers attempt to operate in this realm on their own resources they will not die, but they will find they get nowhere in a big hurry.
Trying to live the Christian life in the energy of the flesh, in a dedicated, sincere effort to do that which is pleasing to God apart from a dependence upon the life of the Holy Spirit of God within, always ends up in frustration and bafflement.
This is what Christians discover as they go along, that they are not made for this realm; they cannot operate in and of themselves.
They find themselves like a person trying to fly through the sky with his or her own arms, flapping, flopping, frustrated, baffled, impotent, unable to function.
Here is God’s picture of this fifth day: By a direct impartation of divine life, on which humanity learns to depend, a believer can live in the hostile environment of the world as a fish lives in the sea–gracefully, powerfully, and abundantly.
People can learn how live and to operate in this realm and live in this hostile atmosphere effectively.
Also, in that rarefied atmosphere of the spiritual life where a fall would be fatal, a believer, completely depending upon the life of God within, can fly like a bird.
Then one day the phrase “Look at the birds” entered my mind, and that was an unusual idea for me-considering my fear of looking too long at too high places.
From my perspective, birds were okay, but I didn’t know how to identify many of them as they all soar so very high in their God given natural environment.
Yet I suddenly remembered that Jesus had said, “Look at the birds”—and I take it as a holy invitation to lift my eyes up.
As I began paying attention, I woke, noticed the birds of all kinds were literally everywhere, in every season—even in the heights of the highest city buildings!
It got my failing hearts attention, shifted my spiritual perspective dramatically.
Perhaps you feel deeply alienated, physically far from home, or as if you don’t belong spiritually in the place where you are finding yourself exactly right now.
Could Jehovah God be inviting you to lift up your eyes so that you can take note of his great Creation work around you and his over abundant provisions in life?
Today, will you take some time away from observing the heights and depths of self and join me in observing the heights, depths of God’s presence, being filled with awe and wonder as we reflect on birds as an important part of his creation?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 121 English Standard Version
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, help us to lift up our eyes. May we notice your marvelous creation, in which you have even placed birds in the sky as a daily reminder of your care. Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 