No Frontiers for Nature

I have been busy in the garden. I would have thought my garden shed was fairly sacrosanct as far as weeds were concerned. Oh yes, creatures like spiders creep in and spin their webs. But the last thing I expected to see was a large stem of bindweed creeping its way right across the shed floor. I obviously had to tackle this intruder fairly quickly, before it smothered everything in the shed.

Pondering this has helped me to think about an intriguing reference in Psalm 84. The Psalm-writer exclaims:

“Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar, O LORD Almighty, my King and my God” (Psalm 84:3, NIV 1984).

Even the likes of sparrows and swallows manage to make a nest at the altars of God in the Temple. There were severe restrictions on human beings gaining access; it was the preserve of the priests. These alone could approach in order to perform the ritual sacrifices.

The Christian who has understanding of the Bible will think straight away of what happened when Jesus was crucified. I have referred to this a few times before: the remarkable fact that the curtain of the temple was torn in two. The barrier was down and anybody could get in. In fact there are puzzling references to a new state of affairs where people literally muscle their way in, just as desperate migrants force a path across barriers – obsessively anxious to get from one country to another and so to their chosen land, they brush aside all resistance.

"The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it” (Luke 16:16).

It is intriguing to think of this happening, and of God allowing it to happen. Clearly these are new, special “Kingdom of Heaven” conditions, which the Lord Jesus looks forward to with a prophetic eye. Of course, this does not mean that God will, out of some sort of misplaced kindness, let in any Tom, Dick or Harry simply because they happen to be desperate not to be kept out. Otherwise the Lord Jesus would not have told the parable of the five wise and five foolish girls, where the foolish ones are banished from the house of celebration because they failed to buy sufficient oil and were not ready for the hour when the bridegroom turned up.

“At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.' 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'

"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!' But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.' Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour” (Matthew 25:6-13).

We cannot simply demand entry. Yet the Lord Jesus is more than willing to be our entry pass. By trusting in Him we can gain access. We are privileged like kings and princes where the great ones of the earth will be turned away. Let us take none of this for granted, but reverently and humbly accept what God offers.

Hedges

Hedges

I was staying with my farming friends in Banbury recently. They showed me a fascinating book published by RSPB, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, about farm management. It included a section on hedges.

I dare say hedges are something I've taken for granted over the years. They are just there – you only notice them when they are gone. I had often wondered what the point of them was any way. I think I've learned over the years that without hedges, fields are very exposed, and can be windswept and vulnerable. But apart from that … well, what other purposes do these things serve?

The RSPB book opened my eyes. Hedges perform many useful functions at the service of nature. One of the most important is to provide safe highways along which birds, insects and small animals can travel, protected from the gaze of predators that might otherwise prey upon them. These little creatures can pick their way from one destination to another quite readily by relying on the cover that the branches of the hedges provide.

This reminds me of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. As a contemporary song puts it,

"For He made us a way by which we have been saved, He’s the Saviour of the world".

The Lord Jesus described Himself as the Way as well as the Truth and the Life. He provided a way through to the presence of God, who would otherwise be inaccessible to ordinary people. This is symbolised by an incident during the time He hung on the cross.

Two extraordinary events took place during the last hours. Darkness came over the whole land and the curtain which blocked off the inner sanctum of the Jerusalem Temple was torn in two. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews mentions this incident and comments,

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:19-23 ESV).

By means of Jesus, we are furnished with a clear and safe way forward in our spiritual lives. Where predators lurk, the Lord Jesus protects. He reminds us of the right path to follow when our spiritual enemy strives to lead us into the superficially attractive route heading the wrong way.

We may be glad that the Lord Jesus set Himself up as the true and living Way. There are many ways to self-fulfilment offered to us nowadays: ways leading to bodily health, ways to well-being, ways to self-gratification. They can’t all be right.

Like a hedge, Jesus appears at times like a narrow corridor between broad and fertile fields. But woe betide the small creature that steps outside the cover of the hedge! Follow the hedge and you make progress towards where you can flourish. Trapped in the talons of a bird of prey, you are heading nowhere but doom.

Jesus, the narrow corridor, leads to life. We should take with both hands the opportunity He offers.