Example Sentence: When she started her own business, Melinda used her father’s motto — “Trust your instincts” — as her lodestar. (M-Webster)
After Christmas, the table wreath of evergreens went into the canary cage to give the birds some amusement. They plucked and picked at the seeds, fussed with the greens, and explored for food I would hide in the twigs.
The cage of four canaries sits in our entry during the winter and catches light from the mirrored closet as the sun comes up. The lamp timers are set for ten hours, because I am not interested in canary babies, which apparently happens in nature when the days lengthen. With all the Christmas comings and goings and several bright days of January, the birds were paying attention to the increased light. The birds tore up the newspaper at the bottom of the cage, and stole the cedar chips scattered around the water pan.
When the others would leave the cage to fly around the room, the bright yellow canary no longer joined them. She’s been sitting in a corner of the wreath. Yesterday when she hopped away to eat, I climbed on the corner of the sofa, pulled away the canvas drop-cloth around the side of the cage, and found… four eggs in a makeshift nest in the wreath. It’s all pretty work, and I don’t have the heart to pull it apart.
God has put into these little fluttering hearts his mandate to multiply. God’s natural laws draw his creatures into conformity. His creations follow their instincts without question. They don’t wonder where their next meal is coming from or consider the cost of compliance. The birds live fully in God’s seasons.
Watching them, I long for such instinctual obedience. If only we human creatures could learn from nature’s example, conforming to his Word, lining up our own wishes and desires with the Creator’s manual for reaching happiness and fulfillment.
“Your word is a lamp for my feet,” wrote the songwriter, “and a light on my path.” (Psalm 119:105) Let that be our lodestar this week, no matter what twists and turns life brings.
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Keep me from deceitful ways; be gracious to me through your law. I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. I hold fast to your statutes, O LORD; do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free. Teach me, O LORD, to follow your decrees; then I will keep them to the end. Give me understanding, and I will keep your law and obey it with all my heart. Direct me in the path of your commands, for there I find delight. Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word. Psalm 119: 29-37 NIV
*Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed. Proverbs 15:22 NLT*I will exalt You, O Lord, for You lifted me out or the depths and did not let my enemies gloat over me. O Lord my God, I called to you for help and You healed me. O Lord, You brought me up from the grave; You spared me from going down into the pit.
Sing to the Lord, you saints of His; praise His holy name. For His anger lasts only a moment, but His favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Psalm 30:1-5 NIV
*My child, don't reject the LORD's discipline, and don't be upset when he corrects you. For the LORD corrects those he loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom he delights. Proverbs 3:11–12 NLT
*Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NIV
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