When Jesus talked of the importance of man in the sight of His Father, He used the sparrow. “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows” (Matt.
10:28—31). All need to be reminded of just how much care and love God has for all mankind. It is hard for one to imagine a sparrow being used to teach anything, but in the time of Jesus the term sparrow was used generically of many small birds that were used in commerce. These small birds were eaten as a snack. Several of them would be plucked and placed on a skewer then roasted over a fire and eaten like kabobs. Notice the passage from Matthew again; two sparrows were sold for a penny.
Luke records that five sparrows were sold for two pennies (Luke 12:6). The buyer received the fifth sparrow for free because one sparrow had no value. Imagine that something so insignificant was free.
Sometimes people act as if they believe God does not care anything about them.
Let a natural disaster strike and someone wants to blame God for what is an act of nature. The thought is that God just does not care, how wrong that attitude is.
Think again about those sparrows.
If God cares that much for one of His creatures, how much more does He care for man. In the eyes of some it takes power, money, or prestige to be important. People need to remember; God cares for every person on the face of the earth. It does not matter how much money a person has, what the color of a person’s skin, or what occupation a person holds. God cares for everyone.
God made it possible for all men to be saved. He sent His Son to give Himself as the ransom for man’s sins. God knew the agony and pain that would come to Jesus, but He knew a perfect sacrifice had to be given, so He allowed it to happen.
“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17, 18). He has given man His word so that all can know what is expected of us. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim.
3:16, 17). Some fail to read and study for themselves and only listen to what others tell them. Jesus Himself implored those of His day to, “search the scriptures… and they are they which testify of me (John 5:39). Knowing that the Bible comes from God (2 Tim. 3:16, 17) should make man curious enough to read it for ourselves.
As the world gets farther and farther away from God many forget about those sparrows and think God does not love them. It should not be surprising to hear of people who are upset at what the Bible actually teaches. Many fail to see why the Bible was given to man in the first place.
Somehow the idea that the Bible is just a story book has come to the mind of many. It is far more than that, for it shows about God’s love. While God’s love is important to some it has taken preeminence over the fact of God’s justice. God’s book tells man of how He brought salvation to man and how men should live.