The Winter Bluebirds

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1 ESV).

Some of the most profound reminders come at the most insignificant times. Last week we had one of those “blue-northers” come through and drop the temperatures into the teens. For our area that’s a significant cold front. The first day of the cold front was also my scheduled day to be in the office for counseling appointments. That means getting very early to make the drive in to Arlington for my first session. As the sun rose I was looking out the window from our kitchen and saw a pair of Eastern Bluebirds by the feeder. Eastern Bluebirds breed in the eastern half of Texas, the U.S., Canada and Mexico; however, they typically move to the southern end of their range during the winter. We really don’t qualify for the “southern range” here in North Texas. My first thought was “What are you doing here and now?” They could have been enjoying the warm sunshine of South Texas rather than huddling together against the raw north wind and plummeting temperatures here. They seemed lost to me. They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That thought was my significant reminder. It took me to our reading today. The psalmist cautions us against walking “in the counsel of the wicked” and sitting “in the seat of the scoffers.” That puts us in the wrong place, always being at the wrong time. Naturally we want to know, what is the right place to be? It isn’t in church, although that is a good place to be, the best place to be is in the will of God. Far too often, we are out of the will of God and bring temptation on ourselves unnecessarily. We go to the wrong places and hang out with the wrong people at the wrong time and then we’re shocked when we do the wrong thing. We shouldn’t be surprised when we are tempted when you go to a party where people are drinking and using drugs. We shouldn’t be shocked that we’re getting tempted when we go out with our girlfriend or boyfriend and rent a hotel room. We shouldn’t be shocked that we’re getting tempted when we look at a porn site on the Internet. I am not suggesting that if you stay away from those things, temptation will go away. But I am saying you won’t live under the unnecessary pressure that you bring on yourself. Be in the will of God. You find that place in the Scripture.