David the Righteous Chipmunk

I have had ringside seats all summer long to a battle taking place in my backyard. It has the appearance of a "David and Goliath" type of a battle. It has been a battle between one little old chipmunk and my wife.

My wife and I love to watch the birds out in our backyard. It has been one of the joys of living where we do here in northern Michigan. As a result, we have several bird-feeders out back. Two of these are on a pole. That has been the arena to the battle taking place. Shortly after my wife put up the bird feeders on the pole a pesky little chipmunk has viewed it as its own personal smorgasbord. Every time the chipmunk raced up the pole and started to feed, my wife would dart out the back door to scare it away. But by the time my wife got back inside the house, the chipmunk was right back up the pole and feeding his face once again (I'm pretty sure with a big grin).

My wife has tried many war tactics. My favorite was when she put Vaseline all up and down the pole. You should have seen that chipmunk hit that pole at full speed and go spinning through the air. But ultimately, the chipmunk found its way back up the pole. My wife than covered the pole from top to bottom with 1-litre plastic poles. That didn't work either. She has tried all kids of innovative contraptions, so far the chipmunk has found a way to beat them all. Now, a new strategy has been put into place. We'll see how "David the Chipmunk" does in his counter attack.

This chipmunk's desire for the food in the bird feeder reminds me of one of the Beatitudes that Jesus gave in the book of Matthew. He said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness." The word "hunger" speaks of a man who is starving. Jesus wasn't just saying, "Blessed is the man who desires righteousness like a man who hasn't eaten since lunch desires dinner." Jesus is saying, "Blessed is the man who desires righteousness with the same intensity that a starving man desires food." So tell me, do you desire the right things of God like that?

Maybe we can learn a valuable lesson from, David, the righteous chipmunk in my backyard!