Dear Bowen,
A very Happy 9th Birthday to you.
I was recently pondering Isaiah chapter 7 and I came across a verse that I had never noticed before. Verse 18-19 says…
“In that day the Lord will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the streams of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. And they will all come and settle in the steep ravines, and in the clefts of the rocks, and on all the thorn bushes, and on all the pastures.”
Evidently our God is a whistler. I did not know that.
This prompted me to do a little research and I found at least 2 other verses that mention that God whistles:
“He will raise a signal for nations far away, and whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, quickly, speedily they come!” (Isaiah 5:26)
“I will whistle for them and gather them in, for I have redeemed them, and they shall be as many as they were before.” (Zechariah 10:8)
Why do I bring this up? Well, this discovery made me realize that even after being a Christian for 48 years and reading through the Bible a bunch of times there are still things that I am learning about God. I’m sure I’ve read those verses before but evidently they did not register.
So here are a few things I want to encourage you with:
1) When you read Scripture pay attention to what it says. Don’t just go through the motions of reading the Bible just to say that you read your Bible.
2) As you make observations about Scripture write them down. I have a journal that I write in each morning making note of things that catch my attention.
3) Share your discoveries about Scripture and about God with other people. My guess is that I am not the only one who didn’t know that God is a whistler. I, for one, would love to hear about new discoveries that you are making.
The last thing that I will say is this: the next time you hear somebody whistling, be reminded that our God is also a whistler and that at His whistle even flies and bees are quick to respond to His summons. The Lord may or may not whistle at us when He calls but we should nonetheless be quick to respond to whatever He says.
Now that you are in your 10th year of life I suspect that you will make all kinds of new discoveries. May the Lord give you eyes to see His beauty both in the Word as you read it and in the world as you pass through it. I’m already looking forward to celebrating birthday #10 with you. Can you guess why?
Never forget that you are very loved,
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