The family was sitting by the kitchen window having breakfast when we noticed a “snowstorm” of white feathers falling from our pine tree. I wondered what was going on out there, and then I saw something else that probably explained the “snowstorm.” A red-tailed hawk landed on our fence!
Hawks are not only enemies of rodents, like mice and small rabbits, but they are also enemies of smaller birds. The falling feathers probably meant a bird with white feathers had been the hawk’s breakfast.
Hawks soar high in the sky searching for prey, or they may sit quietly on a high perch, waiting. Their victims usually never see the hawk coming. You and I have an enemy watching us that we can’t see with our eyes, but he is there just the same. The Bible calls him Satan and warns us about him so we don’t become one of his victims.
Looking around the backyard, I suddenly caught sight of a cockatiel sitting on the ground. People buy cockatiels for pets. Though these birds become quite tame, they are kept in cages most of the time. Occasionally, one outside its cage will fly out an open door and get lost. Assuming the one in our backyard was somebody’s pet, I hurried outside to see if I could catch it.
As I slowly approached the bird, it walked up to me, and when I reached out to it, it walked right up my arm. Then as I carried it into the house, it moved to my shoulder and snuggled into my hair. Yes, it had to be somebody’s pet.
When we looked the bird over, we could see where feathers were gone from the back of its head, and under one wing the skin was torn and feathers were missing. It could not fly. We were pretty sure then that the “snowstorm” of white feathers we had seen were from this beautiful white cockatiel. We were so glad that the hawk had not had the chance to finish its breakfast.
Satan has different ways of catching his victims. One way is when he fills our eyes, ears and minds with harmful things that the Bible calls sin. And sin separates us from God and keeps us out of heaven. Every one of us is a sinner. The Bible tells us that “there is no difference: for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-2322Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:22‑23)). But the wonderful news is that God loves sinners, and His Son, Jesus Christ, died to wash away our sins. He is our Saviour, waiting to save us from our sins and our enemy. He is our safety and our door into heaven. Another Bible verse says, “I am the door: by Me if any [person] enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:99I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. (John 10:9)).
Now that the bird was safely in the house, we weren’t sure how to care for it. We talked to a vet who told us how to wash the wounds and gave us medicine to help it heal. Then we put a notice in a few local stores and in two newspapers, hoping to find its owner. The notice read, “Injured bird found. Call to identify.” It also included our telephone number.
It didn’t take long for the calls to begin. We got several a day, but none of them described the bird we had rescued. Finally, we got a call from a lady who correctly identified the bird. When she came to claim her pet, there was no doubt she was the cockatiel’s owner - the bird knew her. Then she told us what had happened.
She had set the cage outside and had accidently left one of its three doors open. The bird flew out and landed in a tree. He would not come when she called him, and when she set up a ladder to reach him he flew away.
You and I are sinners who want our own way too. Satan tells us that God’s standards and commandments cage us in and we don’t need them. So we ignore what God tells us in the Bible and do things our own way. This disobedience is sin and separates us from God. And that is exactly where Satan wants us - away from God’s protection.
It was probably just a day or two later that the watchful hawk caught the unprotected, lost cockatiel and carried it to our yard a mile away. In just a short while, no doubt it would have been killed by the hawk, if we had not seen it there on the ground and taken it inside. And the Lord Jesus sees you in your sins and will free you from Satan’s grip if you will let Him. He is the only one who can save you and open the door to heaven. “The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:1010For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19:10)). He loves you and will wash your sins away in His own blood shed on Calvary’s cross. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)).
The cockatiel is safely home. Will you let the Lord Jesus save you?
ML-05/19/1996