I saw it just as it saw me. A real live hawk, just a few feet away in the corn field.
I froze in my tracks and just stared, admiring how beautiful and magnificent it was. But something didn’t seem right. I heard chirping, but it didn’t sound like what I imagined a hawk would generate.
It puzzled me for several seconds but then, suddenly, I understood.
A small bird—probably a sparrow—emerged from the brush and flew by in rush, with the hawk right behind it. The two of them got tangled in a bush on the other side of the road and the sparrow flew away, with the hawk staying behind.
Once again I stared at the hawk, now sitting atop a branch. Maybe it was my imagination, but it seemed to give me a look of disgust and then flew away.
It was then that I made a guess at what had just happened: The hawk apparently had the sparrow in its talons, a right tasty meal. But then I came along, and as the hawk worried about what I would do the sparrow wiggled free.
I had cost the hawk a meal. On the other hand I had saved the life of the sparrow.
Perhaps trying to make myself feel better, I focused more on the latter than the former. Because I had just happened along at that very moment, the sparrow escaped to live another day.
I couldn’t help but think of a verse from the Old Testament, one that we all need to read and heed:
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”1
The gist of that verse is an admonition for us to use our time wisely. While doing so is wise, we appear to gain even more wisdom when we do.
Another way of saying that is to recognize that we only have a limited time here on earth so we better make the best of it. For instance, those of us who live in the United States have an average life span of 78.24 years.2 Women, of course, typically live longer than men.
That means as a fat, middle-aged man, I have just 22 more years to go, if I’m lucky. And who knows what the quality of life will be down the road? It might just stink.
On the other hand, I might get hit by a bus later today. Who knows?
Because of that I need to use every minute of every day wisely, and as I do I’ll gain wisdom.
As I’ve contemplated that principle, it occurs to me how much time I waste in an average day. I spend an inordinate amount of time on myself. As you might imagine, that’s very convicting for a pastor, someone who’s supposed to be totally sold out to the Lord.
What changes am I going to make? I’m not sure at this point, since I’m still “soaking the beans.”
But some changes will probably come pretty quickly. You see, I witnessed the whole hawk and sparrow thing yesterday. And today I found a dead sparrow in the middle of the street, right where yesterday’s drama took place.
Is this sparrow the same as yesterday’s? Who knows?
But God made His point loud and clear: Make some changes, preacher boy. Make some changes.
“Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”
1 Psalm 90:12
2 The World Factbook, Central Intelligence Agency, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2102rank.html
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