Bickering with Beaks

For though the Lord is high, He regards the lowly, but the haughty He knows from afar.

Psalm 138:6 ESV

When it comes to chickens, birds of a feather do flock together. The status of each bird is established early in life, with the stronger chicks pecking at the weaker ones to mark their rank in the barnyard. Higher-ranking chickens get to eat and drink first and choose the best roosting spots. Chickens that look similar and are alike in breed, size, and health stick with one another. Birds that fall outside this category seem to be fair game for the rest of the flock to kill or even cannibalize. People, like chickens, try to establish a “pecking order” based on social status, finances, race, ancestry, or religion, and we often pick and peck at one another until we bloody and destroy others instead of accepting them and helping them out. But that kind of pecking order is the way of the world, not the supernatural, merciful order of God. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6 NKJV).

FAITH CHECK

Instead of destroying those who are weakest in the population, God calls us to do the opposite, to care for widows and orphans and the poor and, most of all, those who need Him. And whatever pecking order you find yourself in this world, you need Him too.

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