The wha-wha-wha of the white-breasted nuthatch joins the jackhammer drumming of the pileated woodpecker as he bores holes in a nearby tree, dead but still standing. The woodpecker makes his way around the tree, boring holes for multiple entries into the nest he excavated in the tree’s cavity. Some days we see a downy woodpecker, the smallest of the woodpecker species, scavenging on tree trunks and branches. Blue jays find food wherever they can—on the ground, in trees and shrubs—all around our home. The beautiful cardinals entertain us, foraging on the ground or in the bushes. Then there are the tiny, colorful hummingbirds that flit from flower to flower in the bee balm that we planted along our back patio. Red-tailed hawks leave their nests in the tall trees around our property, soaring above the treetops and swooping down on their prey.
Trees lining our yard offer safe places for birds to build their nests and tend their young. So, imagine my surprise when I realized that birds were making their nest inside the smoker of our barbeque pit.The birds would land in the small opening, then hop inside to lay their grass and twigs on the nest. It seemed an ideal place for them at first, but in reality it gave easy access to scavengers like foxes and coyotes because of its proximity to the ground.
For us, it meant that the smoker, in fact the entire grill, could not be used for its intended purpose—at least not until the baby birds were gone and the nest was removed.
Simply closing the shaft would have kept the birds from getting inside and allowed us to use the pit as it was designed.
Sometimes we give access to people or things that prevent us from doing what we are created to do, much like the bird nest in the barbeque pit. We expose our heart, mind, and spirit to corrupt images, words, thoughts, even food and drink. We often don’t realize we have opened ourselves to harmful influences. The world has succeeded in convincing us that what was once considered immoral is now the norm. TV shows, articles, stories, news, fashions, and fads have desensitized our hearts and minds, encouraging acceptance and tolerance to what was once unthinkable. With bird nests in our hearts, we lose sight of the person God created us to be and become what the world (and the enemy) wants us to be.
Sounds a lot like the Israelites, doesn’t it? Before the Israelites crossed the Jordan River, the Lord told Moses to tell the people, “When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land, those you allow to remain will become barbs in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will give you trouble in the land where you will live.” (Numbers 33:52, 55). Immorality crept into their society as they failed to drive out nation after nation of “ites”—Amorites, Geshurites, Canaanites. And as the enemy flooded the Promised Land with religions based on man-made idols, the Israelites sank further from God. Eventually God removed Israel from the land because of their idol worship. Bird nests cluttered their hearts.
What, or who, has made a nest in your heart? Is your heart wide open today for things other than what God intended?
Springtime is as good a time as any to clean out those old nests and, once clean, to shut out the enemy whose whole purpose is to draw us away from the things God has planned.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
The best way for us to drive out the old inhabitants—clean out those old, dirty nests—is to focus on our relationship with God, repent, and ask for forgiveness. Then, guard our heart. And the best way to guard our heart is to draw near to God through worship, prayer, meditation on His Word, and spending time with like-minded Christians.
What will you do today to:
- Clean out old nests, and
- Guard your heart?