What the World Needs Now Is...

(Proverbs 27:8 KJV)  As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from his place.

We have had a lot of rain lately.  At school we always have some kids who like to stand under a down spout.  Others will stand out in the pouring rain.  I tell them that even my dog knows to come in out of the rain.  Sometimes we can look at animals to learn a thing or two.  The behavior that is being examined today is the tendency of a bird to protect the eggs or young in the nest. 

I am not an ornithologist, but I do listen and observe.  When birds in the wild have laid eggs they make sure that they are covered and kept warm at all times.  It my differ in different species but in the examples I remember the mother would keep the eggs warm while the father went off looking for food to feed her, and, after the eggs hatched, to feed the babies.  As they got older the mother might also join the search for food but the nest was never abandoned.

The point for us is that parents have responsibilities.  I think this could be extended to both parents even though the pronoun is masculine here.  My reasoning is that “home” (4725) is better translated as “place” as it is in the KJV.  Thus “man” could be interpreted as “mankind.”  The principle applies both ways.

I think that in our modern culture at least, this should be targeted on men.  We live in a day when men are abandoning their God given responsibility to be fathers and husbands.  The number of families with only a mother in residence is reaching epidemic proportions.  This is not the place to try to analyze the reasons why, except to say it is rooted in sin.  This is the place to remind those who call themselves followers of Christ that the plan of God is for two parents in each home.  If the bird wanders the babies die.  When the man wanders the same thing happens to the children he leaves behind.  Sometimes it is physical death, usually it is emotional death.

So?  Sex leads to children.  That is why God put it in the context of marriage.  Be moral.  Encourage others to be moral.  Don’t do anything that would encourage the kind of thinking that it is cool or manly to have many children by many women.  You might not consider it, but be an influence for moral behavior in your community.