TALKING POINTS 9
Monday (Proverbs 27:8)
N is for Nest: Like a bird that strays from its nest is one who strays from home (RSV). Maybe you have seen a little bird that has fallen out of its nest before it can fly? Usually this happens so quietly that we only notice it because the parent birds flap around and make quite a lot of noise. Sometimes the parents bring the little bird food, but there is nothing much else that they can do. The problem is that the little bird is no longer safe from predators like cats.
People used to think that if we touched the bird to put it back into the nest, its parents would be suspicious because it would smell like a human being. Animal scientists no longer believe this and tell us that the best thing to do is to pick the bird up gently and to put it back into the nest where it will be safe and can be cared for.
The wise man uses this word picture to suggest that people can be in just as much trouble as that baby bird when they leave their homes. People need the safety of belonging. This doesn’t mean that we must stay with our parents for ever! God knows that when we grow up we will want to ‘build our own nests’ and make our own homes, just as the bird will do as it grows older.
But it does explain why the life of a homeless person is so sad. What a pity that very few of them know that Jesus understands their situation because he knew what it was like to be home without a permanent home (Matt 8:20).