Spit That Out!

He's the real thing,
He's the real thing.

He's not an imitation,
it's not my imagination,
it's not a hallucination,
He's the joy of my salvation.

(Lyrics of He's the Real Thing)

Sometimes Nature provides such comedy. I spotted one of those moments a few days ago. There are regular visitors to our home. Robins, ravens, wrens, finches, an occasional loud-mouthed gull, woodpeckers keeping time on the telephone pole and one crafty squirrel. My friend, Rhonda, visiting from Ohio, marveled at how much he could stuff in his mouth and still run for it.

That squirrel is a real noise-maker and quite an accomplished thief. He raids the bird feeders on a regular basis. He will stare you down from an arms length away. He also raids bird nests, the bandit, in search of eggs for breakfast.

Mother Nature pulled a fast one on him however. I saw him flying from the porch as I drove up the driveway. When I got to the door I noticed that a small artificial nest with silk flowers was torn apart. Some of the artificial greenery had been chewed off and was laying on the steps.

Then I saw it. I cracked up and John couldn't resist coming to see what was so amusing. There in my artificial nest were two plastic bird eggs and one had a set of squirrel teeth marks clearly visible. Our squirrel thought to steal a meal and instead got a mouth full of plastic made in China. The hungry little beggar gave it a good try though.

As we walked in the house I told John there was sermon fodder there. "The full man has no use for honey, but to the man in need of food every bitter thing is sweet." (Proverbs 27:7) I thought of all the things we try to satisfy our God-hunger and like the squirrel we get "skunked." But we just keep looking for that satisfaction in places it is no more to be found than my fake, made in China, eggs. At least the squirrel knew to give it up.

Jesus is the only real, enduring, soul-satisfying, heart-nourishing, dream-feeding meal on the menu. "Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry..." (John 6:35)

He really is the joy of our salvation and the end of our searching. The only surprise is how good His goodness really is, be you in China or America or past the moons of Jupiter!

Open your mouth and taste,
open your eyes and see—
how good God is.
Blessed are you who run to him.
Worship God if you want the best;
worship opens doors
to all his goodness.
Psalm 34:7-9 Message


Let's be at least as smart as the squirrel and leave the indigestible, counterfeit fare uneaten...if not untried entirely! :)