HARD-HEARTED and cruel must be the boy who robs and destroys a bird’s nest. Who does not admire the skill and diligence with which these little feathered friends construct their little houses? — the robin’s nest, made of grass and mud, with its pretty blue eggs; the beautiful hanging nest of the oriole that swings gently in the breeze on the end of a high branch; the nest of the red-winged blackbird attached to a low bush or among the rushes near the water; or that of the meadow lark hidden in the grass, over which he soars and sings his sweet song. These are familiar sights to some of us.
The robbing of a bird’s nest was made the means of awakening a schoolboy to a sense of his sin and need of a Saviour. On the way home from school one afternoon he and several other boys found a nest with its five spotted eggs. The cruel boys robbed the nest and divided the eggs between them.
Willie’s conscience spoke loudly to him for that deed. The text above his bed, “Thou God seest me,” seemed to say in tones of thunder, “God saw you steal the eggs this afternoon.” He didn’t sleep at all that night, and the next morning when his mother asked what was the matter he told the whole story.
That event was the first step in his life toward a deeper conviction of sin. The result was, he was convinced of his need of a Saviour, and he was led to Jesus. He had a very deep sense of what sin is in the sight of God, but he found in Jesus one who had died to put that sin away. By trusting Him as his Saviour, all his debt of sin was canceled, and he found peace with God.
ML-06/21/1964