“Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the earth, and all things that are therein . . . and Thou preservest them all.”
Nehemiah 9:66Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6)
A friend wrote to us of his experiences with chickens when he was a boy. On one occasion he brought home a rather large freshwater crab from a fishing trip and was curious to see what a rooster in the barnyard would do with it. So he set the crab down in front of it, and immediately, with a couple of jabs of its strong beak, it pecked off the large claws, then pecked a hole in the crab’s back and proceeded to eat the meat inside. The rooster, of course, had never seen a crab before, but the Creator had given it an instinct to know what to do.
Another time one of the hens with baby chicks was allowed outside her coop for some exercise when a strange small dog suddenly appeared. Immediately the hen flew onto the dog’s head and, almost smothering it with her wings, began to peck its head with her beak. The frightened dog tried to run away, but the hen stayed with it and would have continued her attack if she had not been pulled off. Here was another instance of instinct, enabling the hen to know what to do, although she had never before had such an experience.
The letter went on to tell of some chicks hatched in an incubator, not yet exposed to living outside the brooder. Like chicks everywhere, when awake they seemed to be always chirping noisily, but when a strange sound was heard every chick immediately became silent. Now, they didn’t have a mother there to teach them, but through a God-given instinct they knew what to do when something threatened.
Our friend also commented that boys and girls have to be taught to obey, and some do not learn very well, whereas the chicks were instinctively obedient to the instincts given them by the Creator. And he pointed out that, although we are sinful by nature, the Lord Jesus offers eternal life to all who will come to Him in faith, admitting their sin. His promise states, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise [in no way] cast out” (John 6:3737All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37)). With the new eternal life He gives comes a new nature that delights to obey Him.
We thought you would find the stories of this man’s experiences with chickens interesting examples of how God-given instincts help so many of His creatures. We hope that every one of you has come to the Lord Jesus, confessing you are a sinner, and accepting Him as your very own Saviour. If you have not yet done this, why not accept His invitation this very day.
ML-12/12/1999