Lessons From A Birdbath

My parents have a birdbath in their garden. It’s nothing fancy but they keep it full of water and every day, regardless of the season or weather, they have a number of birds come down to enjoy a drink or a soak in the water.

Over the first half of this year, I spent a lot of time in my parent’s garden helping to keep it tidy and as such, had the opportunity to watch the birds and enjoy their enjoyment of the cool fresh water.

And as I watched I realised that not all birds approached the water in the same way!

Some of the birds were quite wary and watchful, and would sit on the edge of the bath, watching a while to make sure it was safe for them to drink. At the slightest noise or movement, they would fly away to a safe place to wait for whatever disturbed them to go before trying again!

Then there were those birds who flew in, kept to the edge of the water and took little sips, before flying off again – staying only long enough for their immediate thirst to be quenched and receive sustenance for the next task in their busy bird day.

Some of the birds did venture a little further into the water – wading in to about knee depth before drinking from the deeper water and flying away.

These birds were often joined by the more flamboyant ones, those who landed straight in the deep water, splashed, fluttered, splashed some more, and enjoyed a big swimming party in the bath!

And then there was one bird who came when all was quiet, waded right into the centre of the birdbath and lay down, immersing itself in the water, and resting there, enjoying the cool water flowing over all of its body. It would move and flutter its wings occasionally, just to make sure every feather was wet, and then would lie still again, quietly enjoying the space and time to rest.

As I watched these birds over a number of days, I found myself thinking of how I approach the ‘birdbath’ of living water that God supplies for me and invites me into? A bath that is always full of fresh clean water, and always available for me to come and drink – to wash and be washed clean – to splash around and enjoy the lighter moments of life with God.

And where the invitation is always there for me to come and immerse myself in His birdbath – to be still in His presence and find refreshing in the heat of the day – a place of quiet rest on the journey of life.

In Psalm 36 vs 5 – 9, we read:

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast in the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

All through the Bible, God’s love is likened to a river or a fountain, or the ocean. A deep, fresh and never-ending supply of water. And His invitation to us to come and drink from His water of delight is always open! To come and swim in His living water – water that will never run dry, but that is provided just for us to enjoy!

The water of His presence, His grace, His love, His Word.

As I worked in the garden and watched the birds, I realised that I had, for too long, simply been sipping from the edge of this birdbath of living water – taking little sips – enough to keep me sustained for a short while, but not taking the time to just come and immerse myself in His presence and Word – to stop a while and allow it to bring much needed refreshing and renewing to my soul and spirit.

Sometimes life really is too full and crazy for us to take anything other than little sips along the way, and that’s ok! But God’s invitation is always there, even in the midst of the craziness, to press pause and stop a while – to wade into the depths of His water and soak ourselves in His presence and His Word – to delight ourselves in His fountain of life!

When did you last take time to simply enjoy being in God’s presence? To allow His love and grace to wash over you? To soak yourself in His Word? To close your eyes, lie back and float a while in His Living Water?

We often need to be deliberate about carving out this space for ourselves, especially in the busy seasons of life when everything else is clamoring for attention. But sometimes, we just need to decide to use that moment of quiet in our day to tap into God’s presence, before tapping on our phones!

So why not grab a cup of your favourite brew now, in this quiet moment, and ponder about where you are in relation to God’s birdbath.

Then listen to the quiet whisper of His invitation to you to wade in a little deeper – to linger awhile with Him, not just because you need it, but because God actually wants to spend that time with you – because He loves you with a deep unfailing and everlasting love, and delights in splashing and wallowing in the water of His birdbath right alongside you!