There have been times when, after relating to someone something that was told to me, I would be asked, "Where did you hear that?" If I didn't want to reveal the source, my reply might be, "A little bird told me." Then I would laugh and say, "It isn't that important anyway."

But now I have been told something very important that I want to share with you; and if you should ask me where I heard it, I would have to say, "A little bird told me," because a little bird really did tell it to me!

The message came to me last spring by air mail, delivered right to my house--not to my door, but to my window sill--by a pretty little robin. One morning I looked out my window and there she was just sitting on the sill. I knew it was a female because of the dull red color of her breast. She would fly away and then return a while later. I didn't know at the time that she had a message for me; I thought she was looking for some food. The window sill was within easy reach from my kitchen doorstep, so I placed a handful of bird seed on it for her; but after I did that, the little bird stayed away. Two days later I removed the seed and then, the next day, she was back on the window sill. Apparently the reason she was there was not to get food.

I remembered how, in the past, the Lord had used creatures of nature, such as, a little ugly spider and a tiny ant, to teach me some of life's valuable lessons. So I thought, perhaps, if I observed closely, I could learn something from this little bird.

She then began to build a nest and, with my background in building, this really got my attention. Let me tell you, it was something to watch! I have never seen anyone work so hard and so well as that little bird. She made countless trips back and forth, carrying mud and straw to the window sill. Then she would form them together with the skill of a master builder. She worked from the inside of the nest, carefully placing a few pieces of straw in the mud; then she pressed against it with her breast as she turned round and round, shaping the interior into a circle. I checked out her work so closely that I measured the nest to see if it was perfectly round and found that it was.

Throughout this construction project, I noticed that she was doing all the work. I kept watching for her mate, but he did not show up. I knew I would be able to distinguish him from her because he would have a brighter red breast. I wondered what was the matter with him. He had a very pretty wife and she was working so hard. Was he out flirting around with other robins? Or perhaps he was just a lazy old bird.

After several days the robin, all by herself, had finished building the nest. It was a job well done; I call it a showpiece. She built it on the sill of one of those windows that cranks outward, so I could not open it as I did not want to harm such a work of art.

Once her nest was built, she got on with her more important work. Soon I noticed an egg in the nest and then another and another--she laid one every day until there were four. When she was setting on the eggs, I took extra care not to disturb her. Sometimes I would have to use the side door and go through the garage to get outside, because every time the front kitchen door opened, she would fly away. When that door was open wide, the outside handle was twelve inches from the nest; that is how close it was.

After the mother robin set on her eggs for twelve days, they began to hatch, and four little baby birds came forth. Now things really got interesting. The next morning, after the baby birds appeared, I looked out of the kitchen window and there was the father bird standing in the driveway with a mouthful of worms. I called for my wife to come, and she hurried to look out the window to see this unexpected visitor. I said to her, "It's the father. He finally showed up. Look at the food he has for the babies!" Then she had to leave to answer the telephone. Her friend had called at that moment to say that her husband had a big box of food he wanted to give us.

After the phone call, Roberta came back to continue looking out the window at the robin in our driveway, and I said to her, "See how red his breast is? That's the father, not the mother. He's been getting food for his family." Between what I said and what her friend had told her on the phone about the box of food for us, she suddenly got a revelation and exclaimed, "It's the father who feeds the children!"

Now, I know a little about the birds and the bees, and I realize that the father bird did have more of a part in bringing about this family of little birds than just gathering some food; but all during the building of the nest and the hatching of the eggs, he was nowhere to be seen. However, when I was telling Roberta about how the father bird showed up to feed the baby robins and that phone call came about the box of food her friend's husband had for us, we both got a witness from the Holy Spirit that "It is the Heavenly Father who feeds His children."

This is the message God has been telling us again and again in different ways. This time it came through a little bird. One reason we need to be reminded of it is because of the work my wife and I do in preparing and serving spiritual food through the printing and distributing of literature. We need to remember that it is not our responsibility to feed God's children. It is His! It is the Good Shepherd who feeds the sheep (SOF S.1:7), and His supply is unlimited! Although, He does give us the privilege of helping, for which we are most thankful.

Now, there have been several other times when I received the message that God is the One who puts the food on the table, but how did it get through to me this time? A little bird told me! Oh, I know, it was the Holy Spirit who spoke to me, but He did it through a bird.

After receiving that message, I realized there should be no pressure upon me in my work of preparing and serving spiritual food. I don't need to push myself but just stay in the flow and work along with the Father as He leads. Often, right in the middle of a printing job, He will tell me to stop working and go do something else--like watch a little bird.

I was never much of a bird watcher before this little robin came to my window sill. The longer I watched, the more I learned about her. She still didn't care for my bird seed, but she loved my homemade bread, and she enjoyed the fresh bowl of water I placed on the sill for her each day. I also made a big fuss over her babies. They soon became little celebrities. They would have their pictures taken and they even had a fan club. Children would come by to see them, and my grandchildren who live a distance away would be kept informed about their progress by mail and telephone.

One day one of the little birds got into big trouble. I think his problem was that he didn't listen to his mother, because when she was away from the nest, he jumped out, stood on the edge of the window sill and thought he was ready to fly. He launched off from the sill and went straight down instead of up. Then he spent the rest of the day on the driveway trying to make a takeoff. The father bird tried and tried to teach him to fly, but he was just not ready. Finally, as it was getting late in the day and he was about to run out into the busy road, I picked him up and placed him back in the nest. (I had heard that you are not supposed to touch a baby bird with your bare hands, so I wore a pair of surgical gloves.)

It only took twelve days from the time the eggs hatched for the little birds to become big and strong enough to fly. About one a day would hop out of the nest and take flight from the window sill. That is, all but one; he would not leave the nest. When he finally got out onto the sill, he would just sit there on the edge, afraid to take off. Finally, one morning, after he had sat there for two or three days, I looked out the window and noticed he was gone. It was about thirty-four days from the start of the building of the nest until the last little robin took flight.

After all the birds were gone, things were quiet on my window sill. Now I could open my kitchen door without being concerned about frightening the mother robin, and I no longer had to go through the garage to get to my front yard. Roberta and I thanked the Lord for giving us the experience of being able to watch from our kitchen window the family life of these little birds, and for the wonderful message we had received through them, that it is the Father who feeds the children. I thought my bird watching days were over, but this is not the end of the story.

Would you believe that about one month later a robin appeared and built another nest right on top of the existing one?! We now have a double-decker bird's nest displayed on my window sill. This may have been the same robin as before; I could not tell. Anyway, the same scenario repeated itself--it was deja-vu! This time I didn't watch the birds as much as before, but I did welcome their visit. Again, I provided bread and water and went back to using the side garage door; and, once again, I saw that when it came time to feed the babies, the father bird appeared with food in his mouth.

If you happen to come to my kitchen doorstep, it will be hard not to notice the two-story bird's nest on the window sill. Some people who see it comment about how unusual it is for a bird to build a nest so close to a busy doorway. I believe it was the Lord who instructed the robin to build in that location--not only once, but twice--so that we would be sure to get this message: It is the Heavenly Father who feeds His children.

When we feed on spiritual food that nourishes our heart and causes us to grow in the love of God, we should remember that it comes from the Hand of God not from a person. The Lord may use us to pass along some of His bread, but it is He who provides the food. The Father is good at preparing things for His children; the Bible says, ". . . it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him" (Cor..2:9).

There was a time when I would write "In His Service" above my signature as a complimentary close to my letters without knowing what it really meant to be in His service. I used to think that it was referring to my service to God, but that is Old Covenant thinking. Since entering into the New Covenant Rest, I am experiencing what it really means to be in the service of God: It is His service to me rather than my service to Him.

Service is being misused in the family of God. Old Covenant preachers will prompt you to use it as a gauge to determine how spiritual you are. To some, service is an obsession. The precious Bride of Christ has been so goaded into service that it has become her identity. Jesus did not call you to Himself to be a servant! The Lord tells His children that He has redeemed them "out of the house of servants" (Micah 6:4). Our Lord has plenty of angels who were created for service. As glorious as service to God is, you were created for something even better than that--you were made to become a child of the Most High through the new birth that comes by receiving Jesus (John 1:12). This is what God has on His heart and mind for people, which is much different from service: ". . . and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty" (Cor..6:17,18).

Getting that Old Testament service syndrome out of our system is not as easy as it may sound. Some of the ones who have the most difficulty with this are those dear old saints who have spent much of their lifetime in service to God. Many are set in their traditional ways and find it hard to embrace the concept of working with our Heavenly Father rather than for Him. But there are those who are hearing the Father's call to let go of their obsession with service and enter into the rest that He has prepared for His people (Heb.4:9,10).

Even reading the Bible, if it is done out of duty, can become an Old Testament service to God. If we lay aside that old duty-bound, systematic way and read it when He calls us to dine on a spiritual feast prepared by Him, it will be just what we need at the exact time we need it to fill a hunger that He has placed in our heart.

The Bible says, "Thou prepares a table before me . . ." (Ps.23:5). On the table are the gifts of salvation, righteousness, peace and joy unspeakable, just to name a few. Oh, the love He has for us, and what preparation it took for Him to place such wonderful gifts on that table! Because of the death and resurrection of Christ, we have a glorious inheritance that becomes ours the moment we receive Jesus. We do not have to wait until we cross over to Heaven's shore to receive what our Heavenly Father has prepared for us as children of God. Enjoy it now!

Eternal life and all the other wonderful gifts on the table are to be served to us at the right hand of the Heavenly Father. We come to His right hand by receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Even while we remain on earth after we are saved, we are, in a way, already positioned at the right hand of God, because that is where Christ is and we are "in Christ." The Bible says, "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col.3:1,2). These Heavenly riches are for us to enjoy right now while we are here on earth; and they will stay with us, for we will take them with us on our departure for Heaven.

For all who are not in a position to receive these riches, turn away from unbelief. Come to Jesus. "Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Mat.25:34).

Should we try to prepare the table for ourselves? Are we able to do a better job than the Lord? Can we bring down manna from heaven or cause rivers of fresh water to flow out of a rock (Ex.17:6; Ps.105:41)? Could we supply pro- visions for a nation of people in a wilderness for forty years so that they lack nothing (Deut.2:7)? Would we be able to take five barley loaves of bread and two small fish and multiply them to feed five thousand hungry men, women and children all they could eat in the wilderness and still have leftovers (John 6:11)? It doesn't make any sense not to come into the service of the Lord and let Him serve to us all that is on the table prepared by Him.

God has prepared that table for us in the presence of our enemies (Ps.23:5). Our number one enemy is Satan. Then come the others: anyone who, or anything that tries to keep us away from the table of the Lord should be regarded as an enemy. And that includes our own natural mind, for if we try to figure out what God is like with it rather than trusting the Holy Spirit to give us a true revelation of how good God is, we will, in a way, become our own enemy. The Bible says that the carnal mind is "enmity (hostile) against God" (Rom.8:7). If we are trying to work for God and our service becomes our identity, then our works will keep us away from the table God has prepared for us. If that happens, let us regard even our work as an enemy!

We do have a work to do that is a real service to the Lord. It is a work that will get us out of the Old Covenant and into the New Covenant Rest. It is the glorious work of believing in Christ, of believing that Christ has done, on the cross, ALL that needs to be done to make us righteous in God's sight.

The Bible tells us that the children of Israel did not enter the Promised Land because of unbelief (Heb.3:19), and that is what will keep us out of the New Covenant Rest. That glorious rest is one of the gifts prepared by God and put on the table for us to have and enjoy; but many are not enjoying it, because they don't believe it is there or else they don't believe it is for them. What some think is that it sounds too good to be true--and that kind of thinking is really only more unbelief.

The Bible says, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief" (Heb.4:11). Therefore, let our work for the Lord be of the real service. The people asked Jesus, "What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent" (John 6:28,29).

Recently, a devoted woman of God was sharing with me that she had a problem regarding her work. She loved her job but struggled with workaholism. She was concerned that she was going to work herself into a burnout and was trying to slow down and work in rest. But that did not help, for trying to slow down only became another work in itself.

She knew the solution was not in her trying to train herself to accomplish a proper way of working, for she had been struggling to do that for years, without success. What she desired was to get deeper into the New Covenant Rest. She knew there was a gift from God placed in her inheritance as a child of His that would take care of her problem. She was just having difficulty letting go of trying to work out her own solution.

Finally, one day she decided not to work at all, but just to take the day off and do nothing but hang around and enjoy the Lord's presence. That was the day she got out of her service to Him and into His service to her. She heard Him speak to her heart to tell her that being in His rest did not depend upon her changing her work habits, but rather on her believing in His finished work for her on the cross; and that she could enter His rest right now, regardless of her performance at her job. She knew then that if she did that, in due time, her difficulties at work would simply disappear.

The Bible reveals the two different types of service through the example of two sisters who loved the Lord deeply. Their names were Mary and Martha. When Jesus came to their house, Martha went into her service to the Lord; she was preparing her table for Him. She soon became anxious and worried about many things, which led her to murmuring, complaining and fault- finding; therefore, her service became an enemy. Meanwhile, Mary went to the Lord's table to see what He had prepared for her. She sat at His feet and "heard His word" (Luke 10:39). She knew well the message the little bird told my wife and me, that it is the Father who feeds His children.

Martha was in her service while Mary was in His service. Martha may have had good intentions, but she still made a bad choice. Her performance in trying to prepare a table for the Lord kept her away from the table He had prepared for her. Jesus loved her too much to have her miss out on that, so He said to her, "But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Luke 10:42). We, also, can make that good choice!