The Problem With Birdbaths

   Birdbaths are a great way to watch birds and to offer them some refreshing during the hot sweaty days of summer. Of course I don't know if birds sweat but I sure do when I am out in the hot sun. I noticed tonight the birdbath was low on water so I grabbed my bucket and got some water to put in the birdbath. I noticed the water was pretty dirty so I emptied the birdbath and cleaned it with a brush. There was some algae growing in it along with some bird doo  plus some things I am not sure what they were. I then filled it back up with some fresh water and it looked really inviting. As I was cleaning the birdbath I began to think about our lives and how easily our lives can become full of dirt and polluted with all kinds of garbage. We can become just like the birdbath.

As I was cleaning the birdbath, I was thinking of what my life used to be like before I knew Christ. I was a sinner who had sin that needed to be dealt with by God. So when I accepted Christ as my Savior He began to cleanse me from my sin and gave me a new Spirit to dwell inside of me. Much like the birdbath, we can end up with all sorts of garbage in our lives from all sorts of things and even people. Our lives need to be cleaned on a regular basis if we want them to stay clean. If I want the water in the birdbath and even the birdbath itself to stay clean I need to get clean it on a daily basis. We are admonished in the Word to crucify our flesh daily. What does that mean for us as believers? It means we have to give up our desires and our plans everyday and allow ourselves to be controlled by God and following His plans and not ours. We need to put Christ first in everything. The Holy Spirit is there to help us walk the paths of righteousness And when we do we keep ourselves pure and spotless when it comes to fleshly desires. We have to choose to keep pure and clean before God. I thank God that He loves us and wants to provide everything we need and He does cleans us from all our sin if we only ask Him. But oh how easy it easy sometimes to slack off doing things we ought and end up dirty and full of stuff we don't really want. The sad thing sometimes we settle for the dirty polluted water of this earth and lose out on the clean refreshing water God has for us. I just cannot imagine how God must feel when we opt to be a dirty birdbath when He is there to help us stay clean before Him.

I had no sooner got the birdbath clean and refilled with cool water and walked away when I saw some finches come to the birdbath and begin to drink. They are picky and will not use the birdbath when it is dirty. So here is the big question for you today. Are you willing to be a dirty birdbath and not offer the world anything of value or are you willing to be a clean birdbath and offer refreshing living water to those around you? And in today's world, people are seeking the living water that fills us even if they don't know it yet!