Feed

Bird feeders hung empty, swinging in the strong winds. Tree branches denuded of the feathered friends who usually flit and dance round the feeders and the fat balls. I’d forgotten to feed them.

The sleet sweeps across the fields and there isn’t much food in the frozen north for these wee birds to eat. I’ve now replenished the feeders and the first birds are back, trying to eat a third of their body weight in order to remain alive through these winter months.

Some of the birds cling to the wire feeder; some perch on the stick perches nibbling at seeds; some hop along the ground gathering up the seed which falls and others peck at the fat balls or the breadcrumbs on the earth.

(The cats are inside!!)

However much they eat in one day, by the next day these creatures need to fill up again.

Much like our spiritual stomachs, which we need to feed daily if we are to stay spiritually alive and able to hear and respond to our Lord’s voice when he guides and directs.

The one who feeds on Jesus will live because of him. Don’t let a day go by where you miss that meal.

Dog or Cat Food?

Why do the cats prefer dog food, and the dog prefers cat food?

Raising children, we quickly discovered that as soon as you told a child that something was off-limits, it was far more attractive than it had been when they thought it was ok. Does this perverse streak extend to the animal kingdom, too? 

I wonder if the Ten Commandments made some sins more attractive to people than they had been before they were so strictly proscribed. Paul made it clear that he believed the Law was impossible to keep, until the Holy Spirit was given to enable us to keep it better. In fact, his argument is that the Holy Spirit gives us the desire to keep the Law, because we love God more fully and want to do what he wants us to do, whereas without the Spirit, it seemed like a list of don’ts which were crying out to be broken.

I am so grateful for the gift of the Spirit. 

But it doesn’t really answer the profound question of cats and dogs preferring each others food...