Christian thoughts from everyday life in and around the three cities.
BIRDS TEACHPEOPLE IN KHARTOUM.
Many of God's creations can teach us human beings valuable lessons. On the fifth day of creation God made 'winged birds' to 'fly above the earth'.
The weaver bird is one that lives in our city in several varieties. It is yellow and black, around fifteen centimetres long, with a touch of red on its face around the beak.
I was with a group of friends on the Sillette agriculture scheme recently, watching several of these birds 'weave' their nests. They make hollow balls of grasses, with a hole in the bottom for the door. These are suspended from tree branches, almost looking as if they are fruit. Their colonies are frequently noisy. A weaver flies hundreds of journeys backwards and forwards to gather materials and to build its family home. Surely God intends us to learn that we also must work to earn our food, our home, our family living?
We do not have a divinely given right to be fed and housed by our government, by our community or by outside helpers. We do have a divinely given responsibility to work hard. By this method God intends to provide for us. The earliest Christians knew this was true and they made a rule: "If a man will not work he shall not eat".
Our Lord Jesus said to his followers: "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?" The birds work hard to gather and God provides for them as they do.
Let's learn this lesson from the birds.