Daily
Devotional

We naturally think that our two-year-old pug dog, Cuddles, is cuter, friendlier, and smarter than any ordinary dog. I suspect that all dog owners think the same of their precious pets.

Cuddles is friendly to everyone she meets. If ten people came to the house, or if we met them on the sidewalk during our hikes up the hill together, she would go to each person in turn to greet them. She fears nothing but the garbage truck on its weekly rounds, which gets barked at when it is coming up the hill, during its loading process, and while it is leaving.

Before we brought her home at eight weeks of age, some cats had made a runway out of our backyard. Cats never venture in sight now. And any bird that tries to land in “her” yard is her mortal enemy! She seems to have a sixth sense telling her when those birds are nearby. She could be crouched in the middle of the family room when she senses a bird in the area, and then she runs out the back door, barking angrily to shoo them off. We find the defensive display to be quite entertaining!

In today’s focus verse, Abraham also had to shoo away some birds. He had prepared a sacrifice for the Lord, but birds were trying to scavenge the meat and thereby destroy his offering. He had to guard his offering and protect it by driving away the birds.

In a similar way, if we are Christians, our lives are living sacrifices to the Lord, but the devil will try to attack and destroy that offering. Even if we have received entire sanctification, removing the desire for sin from our hearts, temptations still “fly overhead,” seemingly without reason. It is a shame that we do not have a sixth sense like Cuddles that can tell us when those “birds” are trying to land in our spiritual backyards. However, we can certainly shoo them away before they settle down and start building a nest! With God’s help, we can drive away those attacks and keep our offering acceptable to God.