THIS IS WHAT MY PEACEFUL DOVES HAVE TAUGHT ME – WILL I HEED THE LESSONS? PART 1 OF 2
This was presented to a group but equally could be a sermon.
INTRODUCTION
God’s creation is so wonderful and the life forms so diverse that no one in a lifetime could ever touch on more than a tiny section of it. Yes, I used the term “God’s creation” and not some humanist concept like evolution.
I am amazed at the stupidity of humanists and atheists who want to excise God completely from the universe and set themselves up as the founts of all knowledge. They want me to believe that the entire mass and volume of the universe was contained in a singularity (as they call it) about the size of a grain of sand that exploded and is still surging outwards.
Can you imagine what extraordinary science would be involved in containing the entire mass of the universe in the size of a grain of sand, and when it exploded, what unbelievable heat and pressure would be generated that even if there was anything living, (which there could not have been of course), then it would have been instantly destroyed.
This is from the European Space Agency – [[“There are something like (10 to the 11th power to 10 to the 12th power) stars in our Galaxy, and there are perhaps something like 10 to the 12th power galaxies. With this simple calculation you get something like (10 to the 22nd power to 10 to the 24th power) stars in the Universe. This is only a rough number, as obviously not all galaxies are the same, just like on a beach the depth of sand will not be the same in different places.”]] This is one estimate. I have seen the number as high as 10 to the 27th power but what are a few billion stars when we talk these figures?
And all that originally contained in something the size of a grain of sand! What extraordinary lengths a person can go to so that he can dismiss the existence of God and lock his mind away in ignorance.
God’s creation is marvellous, so it is no wonder that biblical writers make common references to nature – the birds, animals, insects, etc. These creatures are used to teach lessons or are used in parables. Do you recall Solomon who wrote, “Go to the ant, you sluggard,” when making references to lazy people?
Jesus used animals and birds in his teaching and comments. Herod was a sly fox. The birds of the air were always troublesome. The hen was an example of caring and compassion.
Did the Lord tell us to be like doves and snakes (maybe we are used to the word “serpent”)? Well, not exactly, but to have the characteristics of doves and serpents. {{Matthew 10 v 16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”}} “Shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves”. How do doves behave?
THE LEAD IN
Two years ago there was a dove on my clothesline, a small “peaceful dove”. Those in the United States call them zebra doves. They are very shy and if you approach they depart rapidly. From the patio I sprinkled a little bit of bird seed (the seed is for the king quails I have) over the railing, down about 4 metres onto the concrete. It took a little time, but the dove got used to that, though very frightened. It flew from the clothesline to the concrete path, and all the time glancing at me and back to the concrete. That continued for a couple of weeks, daily, and then its mate came as well, and before long there were 8 of them. Then 12.
Last year I decided to sit at the bottom of the back steps, and I was surprised that they came closer though extremely wary, and the slightest movement meant they flew off so fast. Slowly they got used to me and will now come to about 60 cm away (2 feet), even a bit closer. There are up to 40 of them now! The word seems to have gotten around. Every afternoon they gather on the clothesline, or in the trees, or on the concrete 14 metres away, and even on the railings outside the kitchen door.
Then I got thinking, the Lord used the dove in illustrations; could I do that? Here are some thoughts –
1. THEY SHOW LITTLE OR NO INITIATIVE, not willing to take the lead. No one wants to be first to come to the seed. They don’t like action. Some might say, shy, reticent, hesitant, cautious, wary, stuck in the mud. Like one tonne stones you hope to move along but they won’t budge! Some even say cowards. In politics, there is an expression, “hawks and doves”. The hawks are those who are itching for action and want to be aggressive, and the doves are those who don’t want to change anything to upset the status quo, even a little, and hang back. They won’t have any change. Scared to take action.
How can that apply to Christians? Aggressive people don’t make for harmony, and doves get nothing done. There needs to be a correct blending of those two. The Christian needs to be forthright, to have initiative, to harmonise, but also, to be gentle, harmless, considerate, and rightly cautious. Sometimes it is very hard to be the mix of those two attitudes (hawks, doves); mostly it is one or the other.
Having opposite traits is not easily combined. There is a story I heard years ago from an Irish preacher. One farmer had two pigs to send to market and gave one son a pig each. The stipulation was that they had to get to the market on time. It was essential. One son belted his pig along at a fast rate and got there on time. He was faithful to his father’s wish but was not merciful. The other son let the pig take its time and when he got to the market, it had closed. He was merciful but not faithful to his father’s wishes. Faithfulness AND mercy, neither son had and we struggle to combine the two seamlessly, but our Lord Jesus Christ is our Faithful and Merciful Great High Priest.
2. WHO IS THE LEADER AMONG US? There might be a group of doves together and they look from one to the other, but not one of them wants to take the lead. It takes ages for one to move, to fly down to where I am, then in such a short time, all the rest follow. In the early stages of feeding the doves from the back steps, they would sit on the clothesline for some time, then one would fly down to about 4 metres away and slowly walk and stop, walk, stop. When it came almost to the seed I was slowly sprinkling, all the others would descend, also to about 4 metres away and came in slowly. They are a lot quicker now. In fact some of them sit on the patio rails cooing for me as if they are in charge.
Leadership is a quality much needed in Christian circles because some in leadership should not be there. Any leadership is a calling from God as the times of the Judges shows (bible book). Leadership is clothed with humility, but often the humble are pushed aside. In these days too many think they have the right to leadership and control. Develop your skills in the bible and look to the Lord for a door He may open for you to guide others. Leadership must be strong, responsive and compassionate.
3. FEMALES AND MALES. I hope I don’t get into trouble here but I share my observances. It is very clear among the doves I feed, that the first to come are females. They have a narrower tail. I can have 4 females fairly close before a male will come. The females are more trusting. In fact, I think in the whole of nature generally, even in humans, that the female is more trusting. That is what the feminists rebel against.
In applying this to Christians, what do we say? It must be noted that the women who interacted with the Lord were more trusting and sensitive. We see them in the opening verses of Luke 8 and in the gospels. I am convinced that women, as a rule, show more devotion to the Lord than men possibly do. I think it might have something to do with the way God made us, the distinctive difference between men and women. Women are also more dependent. This makes for a deeper relationship with God than a lot of men have.
HOWEVER, there is a warning here. Some women tend to be more gullible/trusting than men, and their trust can lead them into problematic relationships, and a greater chance of being deceived. Satan worked on Eve, not Adam. I won’t name them, but many of the cults, and strange things around us these days from the New Age, clairvoyants, strange happenings in churches, come more from women than men. Because women seem to trust more, or trust more readily than men, this is what the cults prey on – {{2Timothy 3:6 “Among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,”}} Both men and women must consider their attitudes and be careful in all things.
4. GOD ENCOURAGES US AS I ENCOURAGE THE DOVES. Sometimes the doves get spooked and are reluctant to come closer than about 3 metres. They might take a couple of steps then stop. They keep their eyes on you all the time. When that happens, I take a bit of seed, not much, and sprinkle it a little further out. Then a bit more seed, and a bit more. It looks like encouragement for the doves to come. It works because they do come. Their confidence is strengthened. That was in the earlier stages. Now they come a lot more trustingly.
God is the great encourager. He bids us come. We might not be able to get further than a few faltering steps. He encourages our faith. He sprinkles hope before us to take more steps. He enlarges our faith. He points the way out in front of us. His purpose towards us is always good. What must we do? Just have faith to trust in every circumstance, because God will not gobble us up. There is no reason for us to get spooked. “Come unto me . . . and I will give you rest.”. {{James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”}} God even helps us come in the first place. Over time our confidence is strengthened.
5. CALL ON ME. These doves are fed about 3-4 pm each afternoon; well I try to! Quite a number of them have learnt to sit on the decking rails outside the back door about 2 pm and start cooing and making other noises in an effort to get my attention. It is almost as if they are demanding to be fed. It is as if they are calling on me for their needs.
Of course I applied that to these verses – {{Matthew 6 v 25 For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink, nor for your body as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body than clothing? Matt 6 v 26 Look at the birds of the air that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?}} God is the Kind Provider.
{{Deuteronomy 4 v 7 “What great nation is there that has a god so near to it as is the LORD our God whenever we call on Him.”}} This was a great comfort to Israel. God is the Responder. God listens for the voice of His children.
6. SQUABBLING AND AMBITION. One nasty feature these doves have, and it is fairly common in this fallen world to every created living thing, is that each one is jealous for position and to strive ahead of others. Like the lion, which will snarl and growl warning to another lion that approaches the food it has obtained, then these doves can argue among themselves at food time. Suddenly one might dive at another, or lunge at one another to peck it on the body or head, usually on the side of the neck when a few feathers fall loose. The idea is to chase away the rivals to have as much for themselves as they can get.
We know this happens with non Christians as envy, jealousy, greed, ambition, rivalry and hatred motivate individuals, but what about Christians? Are they like that too, even in a lesser way? Consider these verses – {{James 4 v 1 What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures, that wage war in your members? James 4 v 2 You lust and do not have, so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. James 4 v 3 You ask and do not receive because you ask with wrong motives so that you may spend it on your pleasures.}}, as they can get.
The answer has to be, “Yes, Christians with their fallen natures, can be that way too, like the non Christians. These wrong attitudes, and that sin, must not be functioning among God’s people. Our motives must be right, and then we can call on God who will hear us!
7. THE CUCKOO IN THE NEST. A few weeks ago there were about 15 doves just in front of me eating, and behold, a male metallic starling (Aplonis metallica) flew right in and stood in the middle of them about half a metre away from me. It had long ugly feet and blood red eyes. It was totally out of place, just like a cuckoo in another bird’s nest. These metallic starlings migrate from Papua New Guinea into northern Australia for a few months each year and eat the seed nuts on palm trees. The flesh is digested and the nuts expelled. Male and female have different patterns. They build great combined hanging nests in trees and screech all the time. This visitor had come to my doves to spy out what was happening and to see if there was something to steal. I think they are awful birds.
There is a real lesson here. We have liberty in Jesus Christ but the enemy wants to take that away by spying on us just like China is doing to the rest of the world. Satan will steal our heritage and faith and our joy. We must always be on guard lest a “starling” comes among us like a cuckoo in the nest. Stand firm. Be on guard for so many false doctrines and practices are about, and so much liberal theology and political correctness. They are starlings and must be resisted. The following verses are relevant -
{{Galatians 2 v 4 “It was because of the false brethren who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.” 2Thessalonians 2 v 15 “so then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us.” 1Corinthians 16 v 13 “Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Act like men. Be strong.”}}
That will end PART 1 of Lessons from Doves. The remainder will come in the next PART. God bless you all.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
