On Sparrows and Love

Here’s a quick little thought for your night:

Did you know Sparrows can see colors that you can’t? They can actually see colors that we have no names for, because we’ve never seen them. Turns out that humans have three kinds of receptor cones in our eyes for color, (color blind people only have 2 - they’re missing the red one altogether) but sparrows have five different kinds of cones! Those 2 extra cones enable sparrows to see tons of colors and color combinations that we’ve never even imagined! In fact, when you look at a rainbow and a sparrow looks at the same rainbow, you don’t actually see the same thing... the sparrow sees colors you’ve never dreamed of on each side of the rainbow you see! For a sparrow, the rainbow is actually bigger and more beautiful than we can even imagine!

The Apostle Paul says that because we have believed in Jesus, we are able to see things other people can’t. He says that when we look at people, we are able to see truths about them that are completely invisible to normal folks. We look at people that are struggling and we love them. We look at people who are hard to love and we have hope for them because we see that God loves them, that Jesus gave His blood for them and that the Lord wants to do amazing things with and through their lives. It’s kind of like we are sparrows when it comes to love. In other words, we don’t see people the same way other people do. We are able to love people everyone hates. We are able to hope in people everyone else has given up on and we are able to reach out to people everyone else has forsaken because we see them in a new light. We love because we see people the way God sees them.

As Paul says, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” 2 Corinthians 5:16-17