We have bird feeders.  Occasionally one of the birds unintentionally feeds one of the cats.  However, I never expected the bird feeders to be the drawing point for a bird feeding on birds.

This morning, sitting here at my computer and looking out at the couple inches of snow on the trees and hills around us – beautiful, by the way – I looked down for a moment to read whatever it was on the screen when bang, a bird hit the window and bounced off.

I looked up just in time to see a large bird swooping in trying to catch one of the sparrows or chickadees.  Not sure if it got any of them, but didn’t see any feathers.

We have bald eagles that nest in large spruce trees, across the road, that grow along Mill Creek.  This bird doesn’t appear to be that size, although it may be a young one.  We have also had a couple of hawks a few hundred feet down the north side of the property, but, haven’t seen them up this way, yet.  So, not sure what it was, it was gone so quickly, but it scattered the birds and it took quite a while for them to come back.

Can’t blame them.

Devotions, shoveling snow off the path, getting the truck cleaned off so Carla can get to work – will still have to brush it before she can leave, but at least the two to three inches are off, everything pretty much done.

Bowl day today, not those wimpy ones, but the classics Rose, Cotton and Sugar. 

So, you know where I will be the rest of the day.

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Daniel 1:8  But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself. KJV

Reading this, this morning reminds me that we have choices in this world.  Not all of them will be popular and some will drive people away.  But we have choices.

Far too often Christians shy away from doing what they know God wants them to do out of fear of ridicule, or condemnation, or they will be damaged financially, or any number of what they consider legitimate reasons – they chose not to take that path.

Far too many Christians find themselves in a quandary, they are challenged to do something they know is sin, yet, they do it anyway, knowing it is wrong; they are in dangerous territory.

The consequences to our spiritual life and witness could be devastating.

We need to understand we make the choices, sometimes it does feel like there is no other way, but we still make a decision to either do or not do something.

Even our Savior had to make a choice, live or die a painful and humiliating death.  He knew what was about to happen, He could have gone away, hidden Himself, but he didn’t.

Mathew 26:39 And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

Joshua 24:14-16 Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

¹⁵ And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

¹⁶ And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; KJV

It is a choice, one we make every single day of our life.

We know that these people did turn from God, many times.  But our Lord is so merciful when they came back to Him with a heart full of contrition He accepted them.

However, they didn’t have to go through all the pain and suffering before they came back to God, if they had made the right choice in the first place.

We too can be thankful that when we make a decision that is not to the Glory of God, we realize we can come back to Him and be forgiven – but it is much better for us that we make the right decision in the first place, for the same reasons it would have been better for Jews.

nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.

May that be my prayer, and response, every day, Lord.

Later, Art :-)