Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls? Luke 12:24
Shortly after 5:30 in the morning, he would begin to strut across the railing on the deck of our house and announce his presence. He was a big and handsome raven and he had become tame enough to come within half a meter of me to get one his favourite treats, a piece of bagel with peanut butter on it. None of the other ravens would venture anywhere near, but Hargus knew that I was not a threat to him, and he knew that I have a soft spot in my heart for a friendly and hungry raven. He didn’t look starved; he and the other ravens in Bonney Park had made it through the latest tough winter OK, although we wondered at times how they could find enough to eat. Our text tells us that God feeds them, although He does make them work for their meals. Untold billions of birds every day feast on the bounty that God supplies in nature for them. According to their differing diets, the birds dine on seeds, leaves, fruit and berries, insects, rodents and other small creatures, fish, carrion, and handouts from humans. If God so generously feeds His feathered creatures, how much more will He care for those created in His image?
One of the great condemnations that will be brought before the unsaved at the Great White Throne is their thanklessness at God’s goodness to them. Even to those who deny His existence does God grant heartbeats and breath, health and strength, the ability to work for a living, the wisdom to make rational choices for comfort and safety, the support of family, friends and a benevolent government, and the time to consider their latter end. People who have received far more than they realize from a bountiful God will someday realize just how much they owe. Above all the temporal blessings, God has also freely provided all that humanity needs for eternity, in the giving of His Son as a sacrifice to provide us with salvation for the taking. Sinners appearing at the Great White Throne will have to answer for their neglect of that provision, as well. How much do you and I value what God has provided?
The bowing of the head to give thanks for each meal is a typical and appropriate response of a Christian to God’s provision. So is the weekly gathering of the saints to remember the Lord in praise and worship. In a thankless world that gives little thought to the Provider of all that they enjoy, the Christian ought always to be marked by gratitude for the measure by which God’s care for us exceeds His care for the ravens and the rest of creation. Since I was a child I have loved the chorus of an old hymn that we hear all too seldom now: Count your blessings, name them one by one; Count your blessings, see what God hath done; Count your blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
Is the raven grateful to the God Who feeds it, or even to me for a daily bagel? I don’t know, I doubt it. But I do know that gratitude ought to flood my heart to a God Who has given me so much. – Jim MacIntosh