Baby Birds

Bible Reading: John 10:1-5, 14, 27-30

“Brielle, I have a surprise to show you,” announced Dad one morning. “Remember the bird’s nest I showed you out here?” Dad pointed to a large plant that hung outside the window. “The five eggs in it have all hatched.”

Brielle’s eyes grew wide as her father lifted her onto a chair so she could peek into the nest. “Where are the baby birds? I don’t see anything but a pile of fuzz and twigs in there.”

“Watch,” said Dad as he cracked open the window. He made clicking noises with his tongue, and suddenly five tiny heads popped up out of the fuzz.

“Oh, I see them!” squealed Brielle. “They have their eyes closed.” Gradually the heads sank back into the fuzz. “Do it again, Dad,” begged Brielle. So Dad made the clicking noise again, and the five heads popped back up.

Brielle and Dad visited the birds every day. Soon their eyes opened, and they got new, larger feathers. But they eventually stopped responding to Dad’s clicking noise. “They know I’m just fooling them and that I’m not really one of their parents coming to bring them dinner,” Dad told her when she asked him about it. Then he added, “We’re kind of like those baby birds. We have to learn whose voice is whose.”

“But I know when it’s you telling me something, or when it’s Mom,” Brielle assured him. “Or Grandma or Grandpa, or Mrs. Jones, or whoever.”

“Yes, but we have to be able to identify God’s voice too,” Dad said.

“How do we do that?” asked Brielle.

“By learning about God from the Bible. He will never go against what He says there. The more we learn about who God is, the easier it becomes to recognize His voice.”

Brielle thought for a moment. “Well, I know God loves people because He sent Jesus to die for us, so He will always tell us to love people too.”

“It sounds like you’re learning to recognize God’s voice already,” said Dad with a smile. “Other voices we hear might tell us to do whatever we want, but God’s voice reminds us that only Jesus can satisfy our hearts and fill our lives with hope, joy, and peace. He’s the one who feeds our souls with His love, and we need to learn to recognize His voice and do what He says.”

–Pauline Youd

How About You?
Do you recognize God’s voice when He speaks to you? In today’s Bible reading, Jesus refers to Himself as the good shepherd and those who know Him as His sheep. Sheep recognize their shepherd’s voice, and as you grow in your relationship with Jesus, you’ll learn more about Him and what His voice sounds like. Get to know Him better by reading and studying the Bible, and listen to what He says.

Today’s Key Verse:
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. (NKJV)
(John 10:27)

Today’s Key Thought:
Learn to recognize God’s voice