Even the Sparrow Finds a Home – Creation Moments
“Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.”
If there is one type of bird that we just take for granted without actually noticing it, it must be the sparrow. Where I grew up, in the industrial northwest of England, sparrows were two-a-penny. It did not matter where you looked. If I walked into the woods, they were there. In our own yard, they were there too. And at high school, which was in the heart of Manchester – England’s second city – they were there too. Nor were they particularly noticeable. The plumage of the male Old World House sparrow is a dull brown, though with a highlighted dark brown, nearly black beak. The female is lighter, and even less distinctly marked. These sparrows live in such close proximity with people, especially in cities, that they show little fear, dodging between the legs of pedestrians to pick up morsels of discarded food. They have prettier relatives, however – all the various species of sparrows appear to be in the same created kind, or baramin, as finches.
The Bible illustrates many important points by reference to the ubiquity of sparrows. In Psalm 84, David refers to the desirability of being in God’s house, remarking that even the sparrow finds a home there, close to God’s altar. And Jesus used sparrows to remind us how much God cares for us, as not a single one falls to the ground without the Father knowing. “Fear not, therefore,” He said. “You are of more value than many sparrows”.
Prayer: Thank You, Heavenly Father, for Your care and love for us. You know about every sparrow, and therefore You care for us so much more. Amen.
Ref: Lightner, J. (2013), An Initial Estimate of Avian Ark Kinds, Answers Research Journal 6 (2013):409–466., < www.answersingenesis.org/arj/v6/avian-ark-kinds.pdf >, accessed 1/31/2019. Image: CC BY-SA 2.0 Germany