A little while back I shared a devotional about feeding birds at our house. In particular, I talked about the joy that a crow brought me whenever it was eating the bread that I had discarded outside. (In case you never read it or if it isn’t ringing a bell, you are able to access all of the prior devotionals on either church website. If you don’t have internet access and would like to receive that particular devotional again, let me know and I will mail you a copy.) Anyway, in that devotional I mentioned my practice of discarding some of our food outside.
Here’s how it works:
- Bread that has developed some mold in spots? Put it out by the field. The birds will eat it. I might get to enjoy seeing said birds in the view from our window.
- Chips that have gone stale? Put them out by the field. The birds will eat them. I might get to enjoy seeing said birds in the view from our window.
- Soggy popcorn? Put it out by the field…..you get the idea.
In general, we try not to waste a lot of food. However, it happens. An open bag of chips find their way into the back of the pantry. A loaf of bread gets partially eaten and forgotten. Some dinner rolls get hard or rubbery. Popcorn sits out too long before it is consumed. Sometimes there are things within our house that are past the point of enjoyment for us to eat. I wish that weren’t the case, but that is the reality. When that happens, instead of throwing the food into our trashcan I prefer to throw it outside to let it be enjoyed by an animal or to naturally decompose. Typically the birds come and peck at the bread, and this gives me an opportunity to do a little bird watching out of our window. For me, it is a win-win-win out of a less than ideal situation. The food is out of our house and not filling up our garbage can. Birds get to eat it. I get to see the birds. Everyone wins.
Good plan, right?
I think so too, but it isn’t foolproof. It isn’t flawless. There are some issues. One issue in particular is the fact that I cannot control what happens to the food once it is laid outside. I have no real say-so in terms of what gets to enjoy our spoils. I intend for birds to eat it, but there is no guarantee that will happen.
The other day we popped some popcorn. It was delicious. Salty. Buttery. We each ate a lot. The problem? We popped more than we could eat or try to give away. Each of us ate popcorn until it was coming out of our ears and then we asked other people if they wanted some. Still, there was popcorn left. Popcorn that none of us could eat. Popcorn that would get soggy and gross pretty quickly. I knew there was only one thing to do with the leftover popcorn.
Feed it to the birds.
Outside it went. Into the typical spot that I dump these types of things. I was curious to see if I might get the chance to see a bird or two enjoying a nicely puffed piece of popcorn.
I didn’t. Instead, I saw something else.
A big, fat groundhog.
Enjoying the popcorn that was meant for the birds.
Now, some of you might think “Awwww!!!! How cute!!!! You got to see Punxsutawney Phil!!!! You got to witness Phil in his natural habitat. You must have been so excited to see a groundhog instead of some old ordinary bird!”
Nope.
Not so much.
You see, I know that this particular groundhog is not Punxsutawney Phil. No man in a top hat will be watching to see if this thing sees its shadow. Television cameras will not descend to monitor this thing’s behaviors. No. Punxsutawney Phil this was not. It was his distant cousin thrice removed (at least). This was the far more sinister New Alexandria Ned.
Perhaps you haven’t heard of New Alexandria Ned, but let me tell you…he is a menace. Big. Fat. Intimidating. He enjoys digging holes underneath your deck. He might gnaw on your deck posts…just for the thrill of it. Wires underneath your car? A favorite afternoon snack of Ned’s. He burrows in places that you don’t want him to be, and he taunts you. Incessantly. “Look at this giant hole that I dug in your yard! I hope you twist your ankle by stepping in it! Look at the way that I’m chewing on this wood! Look at this mess I am making!”
He even recites pathetic poetry.
Let me introduce myself
I’m New Alexandria Ned
I’m the meanest groundhog around
…or so it’s been said
I’ll dig big ol’ holes
I can move lots of dirt
You’ll twist your ankle
I hope you get hurt
I’ll chew on your wood
I’ll crawl under your car
I might gnaw a wire
You won’t get very far
Sure I’m plump
Some might call me cute
But don’t be fooled
I’m a mean old brute
That was him. Ned. The groundhog who has taken it upon himself to start to do all kinds of undesirable things around our home. There he was. Eating popcorn. Popcorn that I had discarded.
I thought that I was feeding the birds.
Instead, I was feeding Ned, an animal that I do not wish to flourish (at least not around the house).
It reminded me of a truth.
We have to be careful what we are feeding.
Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the two wolves, a Cherokee tale that imagines two wolves being within each of us. (I’ll do a quick paraphrase here just so we are all on the same page.) One wolf is good. The other is evil. One represents love and peace and positive elements. The other represents hatred and war and negative elements. In the tale, the wolves battle each other within each of us and are equally matched. A young boy listening to his grandfather tell the story questions, “Who will win? Which wolf will come out victorious? Will good prevail or will evil triumph?” The grandfather answers, “The one you feed is the one who will win.”
The one you feed is the one who will win.
Now, there are a number of issues that I would take with this story on a theological level. First, we aren’t equally divided between good and evil. In fact, the Bible teaches “Everyone has turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Psalm 53:3) Second the battle between good and evil is not a battle of equals. The devil and God are not on the same ground. Not even close. “…the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) Third, we are not able to defeat evil within our life by our power, our strength, our abilities. Victory and triumph come through Jesus. Jesus alone. “But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:57)
That said, there is something to be said about what we are “feeding” in our life.
If we want to grow to be more like Jesus, if we want to get closer to God, if we want to follow after Christ, it makes sense that we would spend time feeding those desires, spend time doing and listening and seeking after the things of God. It makes sense that we would “feed” that which is good and right and proper within us. Spending more time in spiritual disciplines, in prayer, in fasting, in worship, in Bible study, in Christian fellowship, in things that “feed”, that strengthen, that encourage the things of Christ would be beneficial. Conversely, spending time in things that “feed” the things that are not of God would be detrimental. Time spent in gossip, in slander, in selfish ambition, in lust, in greed, in _____ would be time spent away from our Lord and detrimental to our spiritual health.
In his letter to the Colossians, Paul says this:
We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
~ Colossians 1:9-14
If we have been freed from the darkness, why do we continue to feed those desires within us that are dark? Why would we want to continue to do those things that had enslaved us in the past? Instead, we should seek to feed the goodness of God within us. We should pray that we would “live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way”.
Perhaps you have been feeding your tendency to gossip. Now is the time to turn away from that habit and walk in the light. Perhaps you have been feeding your tendency to lust. Now is the time to turn away from that habit and walk in the light. Perhaps you have been feeding your selfishness, your greed, your pride. Now is the time to turn away from those habits and walk in the light.
Friends, we need to be mindful and cautious of what we are feeding.
We may think that some of our habits are just feeding the birds. In reality? We might be feeding New Alexandria Ned. Trust me. He gets fed enough without our help.
~ Pastor Chris
