“His Eye is on the Sparrow” Sparrow ”
-- Liz Silcock
Whenever we look out of our window we
are very likely to see a sparrow, either flitting past or hopping across the ground. These little grey-brown garden birds are one of New Zealand’s most common species. They live off seeds, small insects and worms, and are so friendly that we can sometimes see them pecking at the scraps left on the plates in a cafe. They build their nests in trees and hedges, and even around buildings. Sparrows are found all over the world. Can you believe that there are estimated to be 10,000 to 13,000 different bird species in the world and 200 to 400 billion individual birds at the present time? Birds far outnumber people because the World Population Clock showed that in July 2021 there were about 7.9 billion people on our planet. These kind of numbers can make our head spin around, but the amazing thing is that the Bible tells us that God sees every single little bird. He made each and every one, He feeds them, provides homes for them and He watches over them until they die and fall to the ground. So, if God cares so much for the little common garden sparrow, how much more does He care for us? Jesus asked that question: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” (Matthew 6:26). Life in Israel was hard when Jesus walked on earth. Like most of His people He came from a humble family who had to work hard to make a living. They were also living under the occupation of the cruel Roman government, and so they were fearful of a lot of things. How could they survive? How could they pay their taxes? How could they keep out of trouble from the Roman soldiers? Why did God allow the bad things that were happening in their country? Did He really care for them? Jesus wanted to assure them that God really did love them, and so they should not fear but put their trust in Him. On another occasion He used the sparrows as an example of God’s care for them. In those days sparrows and other small birds would be caught and plucked
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