Hummingbirds

This weekend Beth and I went with a group of leaders in our church to do some planning for the college small groups that are starting in the next few weeks.  I got up early on Saturday morning, well before everyone else, because I enjoy that time alone.  For me, it's a chance to sit quietly and read my Bible, drink a cup of coffee, and truly rest in the Lord.  Even if I'm really tired I find myself energized by that, prepared to face whatever the day has in store.

So, I went outside with my Bible and journal to enjoy the cool of the morning while I read, and just as I had gotten settled into the rocking chair and reading from Psalm 100 I heard a buzzing noise.  I looked up and nothing was there, so I dismissed it.  The second time I heard the noise I ignored it for a moment, but when it persisted I looked up and there was a hummingbird, getting nectar from a feeder nearby.  It kept doing this interesting thing, though.  It would get some nectar, then back up and look at me, then get some nectar, back up and look at me - definitely an interesting experience being stared down by a hummingbird...

Anyway, as a result, two thoughts occurred as I watched this tiny little bird feeding and watching and feeding again.

The first was of the song by Tenth Avenue North called "Love is Here."  The lyrics say, "Come to the water you who thirst and you'll thirst no more."  I was reminded that just as this hummingbird needed that water for life, so also do I need the living water that Jesus offers in John 4:

"Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

I love the picture of that bird coming for water, needing that water to sustain life, and the reminder that Christ offers us all water that's better than any we could ever find on earth - pure enough to quench our thirst for eternity.

The second thought was of the scene in C.S. Lewis' The Silver Chair where Jill meets Aslan for the first time, posted here in its entirety because I could never do justice describing it.  The main gist is that Aslan (the symbolic Christ-figure in the Narnia series) offers Jill water and she is concerned about the danger of drinking the water in the presence of the largest, wildest, most dangerous looking Lion she's ever seen.  As I watched the hummingbird, who needed and wanted the life-giving nectar, it also kept an eye out for me, the very large human who could destroy its life in an instant.

More fitting than the scene in The Silver Chair, though, the hummingbird really reminded me of 1 Peter 5:8, which says:

"Be sober-minded; be watchful.  Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour."

Peter is telling us to be watchful because just like I could have jumped up to harm the hummingbird, so also is the devil prowling around looking for any way that he can possibly destroy us.  I find it quite easy in my own life to remember that Jesus is the living water, but all too often I let my guard down and don't keep an eye out for the schemes of the devil.  He's crafty and cunning, and if I let up watching for just one minute, he steps right past my defenses and starts wreaking havoc in my life.

I'm taking the hummingbird as an example of what I want to emulate - while I continually come to the Lord as my source of life, I also want to keep watch so that I don't get caught in the snares of the devil.

And I'm praying the same thing for you.