I fill it up because I want to, not because the birds do anything to earn it.
This time of year, I have to replace my hummingbird feeder nectar about once a week to keep it fresh. I don’t have a lot of hummingbirds right now and they aren’t drinking that much. The weather isn’t very hot yet and they haven’t established nests. When the sugar water sits in the sun for a week, it gets cloudy and sour and so I replace it with fresh sugar water.
My son always picks at me and tells me that I’m just feeding freeloaders. They have done nothing to earn my time and care. I chuckle and continue doing it anyway.
He’s right of course, but the little birds delight me and I feel led to feed them.
I was thinking about his words last weekend while I was refilling my feeder when I was reminded that refilling them regularly just because they make me happy, is a tiny bit like grace.
We can do nothing to earn God’s grace even on our best days, yet He gives it to us freely. He fills us up over and over as often as we come back to Him, with hearts and souls thirsting for more.
Ideally, we in turn, give thanks for it and extend the love and grace that we are given to those around us who desperately need it. That’s how the Kingdom grows and how we can delight our Maker just as those little hummingbirds delight me.
I smiled as I turned the concept over in my mind, thankful for the faith lesson. Turns out, they weren’t freeloaders after all. They were put in my path to teach me something.
I was glad I was paying attention and didn’t miss it. Perhaps you needed a little faith lesson today as well.
Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂