I mentioned yesterday that I had the opportunity to talk to a group of elementary students about thankfulness. Just before I was invited forward to speak, we sang a children’s version of the song “His Eye is on the Sparrow.” How fitting. My favorite line:
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
I wanted to help the kids think about thankfulness for the provision of necessities (as opposed to thankfulness about new toys or other ‘luxuries’), so I included Jesus’ illustration about the birds of the air from Matt. 6:26:
Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
After I finished my brief talk at the school, I left and proceeded down the street to stop for gas. As I waited for my car to fill up with fuel, I noticed a sparrow landing just a few feet in front of me. I smiled and thought, What are the odds? As I watched the bird a bit longer, it dawned on me that it was pecking at a huge ball of bread.