One Saturday morning, I awakened to birds chirping outside my home.
This was not unusual. My feathered friends seem to enjoy the trees in our backyard, some even building nests in the roof’s eaves. But the chirping continued as I prepared breakfast, so I walked out on the back deck to investigate. To my surprise, two robins hung upside down at the corner of the house. They were hopelessly entangled in some string with which they had tried to build a nest. To make matters worse, they’d been pecking at each other and were streaked with blood.
Frantic, I ran to get my husband. He gently wrapped one large, rough hand around the two birds and cut the string that attached them to the roof. They pecked freely away at his hand as he attempted to free them from each other. He kept going and used tiny surgical scissors to snip the strands that bound them together. Within minutes, it was over. He opened his big, bird-pecked hand and freed the robins.
I couldn’t help but see this as an example of God’s love. As sinners, our own ways hopelessly ensnared us, but God sent His son to be the propitiation (atonement) for our sins.
After stumbling through Leviticus on my way through the Old Testament last year, I’m even more grateful we do not have to prepare our own blood atonement (animal sacrifice) for God. I love animals. I couldn’t even stand to watch two birds in a fix.
Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if my husband hadn’t untangled the birds from their entrapment. They were helpless, but their attempts to work themselves out of a bad situation failed.
Like them, we are hopelessly entangled in our sin, with no way to free ourselves from the penalty of it. It took someone sinless to pay for our sins. Jesus paid it all. He gave His life to set us free.
How can you thank God for untangling you from your sins?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and HeungSoon.)
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Writing has been Darlene’s passion since childhood, but as life (including a full-time job) and other priorities bullied their way, writing was forced to take a back seat in her life. Attending Cascade Christian Writers’ conferences has given her a giant BOOST for jumping back into the front seat of the writing world. She primarily writes inspirational romance and mystery but very much enjoys interviews as well. In 2023, Winged Publications published four of her fiction books, which are available on Amazon. She is currently working on memoirs for ABWE missionaries and is very happy to be a part of the Christian Devotions family.