His Eye Is On The Sparrow
I was running on one of my usual routes the other day when I came across this baby bird, lying dead on the sidewalk. I gave him a little nudge, hoping was only injured and that maybe I could help. No response from the little bird. My thoughts immediately went to Matthew 10:29-31: “What is the price of two sparrows—one copper coin? But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.”
In this passage, Jesus was teaching his disciples about God’s love for His people, and how valuable they are to Him. God cares for all His creatures. Though sparrows have little monetary value—you could buy two for a penny—not even one sparrow can fall to the ground without God knowing it and allowing it. Jesus said that if God values and cares for sparrows, how much more will He care for us? God knows everything about us. He even numbers the hairs on our heads. That’s why Jesus instructs us not to be afraid. Each of us is more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows.
But wait, don’t we all suffer hardship in this life and then die? Yes, both are true. So how then are we more valuable than sparrows if we both suffer the same fate? How can Jesus tell us we’re more valuable than sparrows when we’re going to die just like they will? It’s because Jesus loves us much more than birds. He proved that by becoming a man, living a sinless life, and dying on a cross. Jesus has always existed as God. When He agreed to be born as a human baby, it was so He could experience everything humans experience: temptation, rejection, pain, loss, hunger and even death. In His whole life, He never sinned. Anything we experience, He experienced.
On the cross, He died for our sins, not His own. Pilate said He was not guilty several times but sent Him to the cross anyway. This was all part of the plan since before God created us, that Jesus would die for our sins so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16.) God cares for sparrows, just as Matthew 6:26 says: "Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" But Jesus did not die for sparrows. He died for you and me.
There’s an old gospel hymn called His Eye Is On the Sparrow, written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin and composer Charles H. Gabriel. Such singers from Whitney Houston to Bill Gaither to George Beverly Shea, preformed this song. This is the middle verse:
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear,
And resting on His goodness, I lose my doubts and fears;
Though by the path He leadeth, but one step I may see;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me;
His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.
We need not worry about present troubles nor fear death if we’re children of God. His eye is on the sparrow, and He watches over you and me. I was sad to see that little bird dead on the sidewalk. But it reminded me of God’s unfathomable love for me. Before I saw the bird, my mind was drifting. I usually think about mundane things like my pace and breathing. After I saw the bird, I finished my run thanking God and giving Him glory for all He has done for me.
