The NIV 365 Day Devotional
In Full Display
Are you a bird watcher? If not, you might imagine a bird enthusiast as the stereotypical nerd dressed in khaki shorts and safari hat with binoculars hanging around his neck, scribbling frantically in a tattered notebook. Yet bird watchers thrill at catching glimpses of rare and beautiful species in places that most of us pass by without appreciating the darting beauty that enlivens the trees and bushes. A birder’s passion gives him an insight into the natural world that many of us simply ignore.
Many of the world’s most colorful birds are males. Male mallards and male gold finches, for example, far out-dazzle their drab female counterparts. Certain male birds create amazing displays during mating season. Prairie chicken males inflate circular, orange, unfeathered neck patches. Ruffed grouse and wild turkey toms strut around and fan their tail feathers, revealing arched bands of black, red, white and brown. Perhaps most impressive is the peacock. Males up to seven feet long from beak to tail lift and spread their iridescent tail feathers to showcase almost every color of the rainbow. All of this showmanship is, of course, designed to attract a suitable mate. When the male birds display their colors, females take notice and instinctively respond.
Much like the peacock that he created, God provides signs within nature and throughout Scripture to display his beauty and glory as a sign of his presence. After the rains that flooded the world had subsided, God fanned out a rainbow of color to say, in essence, to all humankind, “I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind.” People who see rainbows in the sky can respond in one of two ways. In the manner of the bird watcher described above, they can appreciate the rainbow and understand it as a symbol of God’s care and concern for the world. Or, after seeing it, they can simply shrug it off and move on.
When it rains, watch the skies. Look up. Psalm 19:1 asserts, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” When you catch sight of a colorful rainbow, do you respond to God’s glory? Look closer. Can you see the promise of his loving concern for you and for the world that he created?
Taken from the NIV Men’s Devotional Bible.