Update on Squirrels

The squirrels still are not using the new feeder. It’s 15 feet away from the old feeder and they’re not using it. Oh, one or two or three come to the new feeder, but only occasionally. Most of the squirrels still come to the location of the old feeder even though there is no food and no feeder.

In my Mind on Fire blog I’ve been pondering Jesus as the Bread of Life in John Chapter 6. Many people turned away from Jesus when He gave this teaching, when He presented Himself as our Bread of Life. The people, including many who had been following Him, preferred the old feeder of the natural world, of types and shadows, of religious tradition that focused not on the original meaning of the Law and Prophets, but rather on the Law and Prophets as a self-righteous security blanket. Even after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ they would continue to go to the old feeder even though there was no living food there – in fact, Paul writes that there is condemnation and death at the old feeder.

Thankfully the location of the old squirrel feeder is not lethal, but there is no food. So the squirrels pick through dropped bird seed from the bird feeders, eating leftovers, eating what has been discarded. This is a picture of what the Christian life is for many folks. They receive little firsthand from the Bible for they spend little time in the Bible. What they do receive they receive primarily from others, and so they are unaccustomed to the joy of the Living Scriptures and of the joy of giving what they receive to others. If you meet them they will more likely talk about an author or a teacher or a preacher than they will talk about what they’ve been reading and experiencing in the Bible – which should be our primary feeder (in the context of this thought). Perhaps we’re all tempted to stay on the ground and pick through the leftovers?