Daily Archive

As I drove to the office one morning last week, I noticed a small dead bird lying at the edge of the street, nestled up against the curb.  I assume that it had been hit by a car.  Most people driving past likely would not have seen it.  It was such a tiny little thing.  I just happened to be glancing that way when I passed by.  My first thought was, “Poor little guy; he probably never saw it coming.”  Then I thought about something that Jesus said.  “Aren’t two sparrows sold for only a penny?  But your Father knows when any one of them falls to the ground” (Matthew 10:29, CEV).  God is so intimately connected with His creation that nothing occurs in the cosmos without His knowledge, no matter how small or insignificant it might seem to human eyes and estimation. 

While Jesus’ statement about sparrows was absolutely true, He spoke those words to make a much larger point about God’s care, concern, and knowledge of those who have been created in His own image.  Jesus continued in Matthew 10, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:30-31).  The Teacher masterfully employed understatement here.  In our Father’s eyes, we are more valuable than all the sparrows in the world; indeed, we are more precious than the cumulative value of every material thing on the planet.

Though our Creator’s thoughts and ways are infinitely higher than our own (Isaiah 55:8-9), that does not mean that He is distant, detached, or disinterested.  “He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist” (Acts 17:27-28).  One of the unfathomable spiritual realities that we enjoy in Christ is that Transcendant Deity dwells in and among us through the Holy Spirit.

Psalm 139 is one of my favorite passages of Scripture.  Some have titled this psalm, “An Ode to an Omniscient God.” 

“O Lord, You have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar.  You scrutinize my path and my lying down, and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.  Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold, O Lord, You know it all.  You have enclosed me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is too high; I cannot attain to it.  Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.  If I take the wings of the dawn, if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will lay hold of me” (Psalm 139:1-10).

Whenever I am tempted
Whenever clouds arise
When songs give place to sighing
When hope within me dies
I draw the closer to Him
From care He sets me free
His eye is on the sparrow
And I know He cares for me

(Civilla D. Martin)