Nesting In The Mustard Tree

That little mustard seed of faith, which began in such a fragile condition that it would die quickly if not sown in good ground, can become an indestructible thing in the lives all of those who will dwell within its protection.

I was struck with the fact that Jesus compared us, who dwell in faith and choose to be a part of the Kingdom of God, as “fowls of the air” in Luke and as “birds” in Matthew. Then I thought that if Jesus compared us to birds who build a nest in faith, maybe it would be good for us to examine just how birds go about building a nest and where they build them. So I did a little research on bird nests and found out some interesting comparisons between the habits of birds and the growth of faith in the life of a Christian.

Let me begin by saying that the type of nest a bird builds depends upon the type of bird he is. Now as I go through these, see if you can determine what kind of “bird” you will relate to and why.

There are nests that are “Scrapes” that are nothing more than a shallow depression scratched into the ground or among the leaves.

A killdeer is a bird that builds this kind of nest. Just a few months ago there was a killdeer that built a scrape nest just inside the fence over on the side of the church. If you walked too close to the fence it wouldn’t be long until you could hear that bird screeching and trying to scare you away from her nest. That nest didn’t look like a nest at all but it was. She had moved the gravel around and made a bare spot in the dirt and that’s where she laid her eggs. I don’t know if the eggs ever hatched but the bird is gone now and so are the eggs so I can only guess that she made it.

What kind of Christian builds a “Scrape nest” in the mustard tree of faith? The answer is pretty obvious – this is the Christian who stays as close to the base of the tree as he can get. After all, you can’t build much of a scrape if there is nothing to scrape. His nest is built down where the roots come out of the ground and run along the top of the ground and every once in a while a branch will shoot out from the root and it’s there where his nest will be found.

This type of Christian doesn’t rise very high from his original point of salvation because he never gets committed enough to fly higher. He would rather scratch around in the ground all the time, “working out his own salvation” but never getting very far from his roots. He isn’t a backslider, but neither is he completely sold out to God. I guess you could say that he is a “carnally minded Christian”. Do you know any Christians who build a “Scrape Nest” in the tree of faith?

Now a Scrape Nest is often filled with rocks, sticks, dirt and dead leaves but the Christian who lives in that nest just gets used to them and makes himself at home with being uncomfortable in living for the Lord. They live their lives constantly bumping their heads against the rocks of life’s rough places, poking themselves with the sticks that tend to test their faith, dwelling upon the “dirt” of the worldly ways of people around them, and they never get comfortable with either the world beneath their feet or the Christians who are totally sold out. Their nest is all they want, all they desire, and you just can’t seem to get them to move on up the tree of faith any higher so you have to love them where they are and move on.