Dead Bird

2 Corinthians 2:16To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?

I had an unpleasant task to perform this morning. For the past couple months we have been regularly feeding the birds. It has been a joy to see all the varieties that God has created. But today I discovered that somehow a bird had fallen into one of our feeders and died. I had the unpleasant task of removing it. It happened to be the feeder that only has a small opening to pour feed into. I looked but was unable to find a way to take off the top of the feeder.

My husband has a type of grabber tool - don't know the official name of it. So I stood on tiptoe, trying to see how I was going to fish the bird out of there. It took several failed attempts. I prayed, "Please help me Lord." As I was able to draw the bird closer to the top, the stench of death filled my nostrils. I almost lost my resolve and was tempted to let someone else in the family "deal with it." But I persevered.

As I carried the bird to the compost pile I was reminded of the stench of my own sins -- when I choose to respond poorly to my husband or teenagers, when I choose to eat "just one more cookie", or I choose to spend time with God later. Numerous choices throughout the day can either be the smell of death or the fragrance of life.

Lord, help me to choose the fragrance of life in my daily walk with you. May others smell me before I come - a sweet fragrance and not the odor of death. In Jesus' name, Amen.