Life-lesson From a Chipmunk
By Susan Klein
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone,
By Susan Klein
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old has gone,
One
thing that tickles my fancy is watching the birds feed at my feeders. One thing
that does not tickle me, however, is watching the chipmunks and squirrels
devour all of my bird food. How dare they eat what is not meant for them! Do
they know that they are not birds?!!
As I sat contentedly watching the Grosbeaks this morning, their breakfast was suddenly interrupted when a chipmunk flung his little body onto the feeder and actually crawled inside of it for a greedy little feeding frenzy. My contentment soon turned to resentment! Frustrated by this intrusion, I opened the door and went out to chase him away. My usual shouts didn’t make him flee! Blinded by his focus on the prize, I had to physically pound on the feeder to scare him out! Knowing he’d return as soon as I left, I took the feeder down and hauled it back in with me. “That’ll teach him,” I muttered.
As I returned my gaze to the shepherds crook... sure enough! There he was! He climbed to the top, looked down, and didn’t see the feeder. Turning his head side to side, he climbed half-way down and then back up again. Still no feeder. This went on for about a dozen more repetitions. His mind was so trained that there was food at the end of the crook that he had a hard time processing that it was not there. It had become automatic.
We can be like that chipmunk sometimes. We can get caught in a pattern of behavior that becomes automatic. It may not even be a desirable behavior, but it is so ingrained in our brains that we keep repeating it over and over. Perhaps it’s using a harsh response to things that irritate us, repeatedly watching a bad television show, or a self-indulgence of some sort. We keep going blindly back to it without even thinking. God tries to speak to us, but we cannot hear His voice since we are not focused on hearing Him, only on what is in front of us. Sometimes He has to rattle our cages to get our attention! Or, He may even go so far as to remove the object that has kept us from hearing Him.
As new creatures in Christ, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and focus our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)! For He is our true prize!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What indulgences or habits might you need to stop? Are you willing to ask God for help in breaking the pattern?
FURTHER READING:
Ephesians 4:22-24
As I sat contentedly watching the Grosbeaks this morning, their breakfast was suddenly interrupted when a chipmunk flung his little body onto the feeder and actually crawled inside of it for a greedy little feeding frenzy. My contentment soon turned to resentment! Frustrated by this intrusion, I opened the door and went out to chase him away. My usual shouts didn’t make him flee! Blinded by his focus on the prize, I had to physically pound on the feeder to scare him out! Knowing he’d return as soon as I left, I took the feeder down and hauled it back in with me. “That’ll teach him,” I muttered.
As I returned my gaze to the shepherds crook... sure enough! There he was! He climbed to the top, looked down, and didn’t see the feeder. Turning his head side to side, he climbed half-way down and then back up again. Still no feeder. This went on for about a dozen more repetitions. His mind was so trained that there was food at the end of the crook that he had a hard time processing that it was not there. It had become automatic.
We can be like that chipmunk sometimes. We can get caught in a pattern of behavior that becomes automatic. It may not even be a desirable behavior, but it is so ingrained in our brains that we keep repeating it over and over. Perhaps it’s using a harsh response to things that irritate us, repeatedly watching a bad television show, or a self-indulgence of some sort. We keep going blindly back to it without even thinking. God tries to speak to us, but we cannot hear His voice since we are not focused on hearing Him, only on what is in front of us. Sometimes He has to rattle our cages to get our attention! Or, He may even go so far as to remove the object that has kept us from hearing Him.
As new creatures in Christ, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and focus our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2)! For He is our true prize!
GOING DEEPER:
1. What indulgences or habits might you need to stop? Are you willing to ask God for help in breaking the pattern?
FURTHER READING:
Ephesians 4:22-24
Susan is married
to Mark, and has two adult children. She enjoys teaching Bible studies,
writing, and tutoring with the Literacy Council. She is a member of the Peace
Team at Oakwood and also co-leads an on-site small group.
