By Published On: July 31st, 2024Categories: Leader Blog, Meditation for Preparation0 Comments on Meditation for Preparation – August 4th

Sparrows, Hairs, and God’s Intimate Knowledge of Us

Read: Luke 12:1-12

Beware of the Leaven of the Pharisees

12 In the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together that they were trampling one another, he began to say to his disciples first, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

Have No Fear

4 “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. 5 But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! 6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Acknowledge Christ Before Men

8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God. 10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. 11 And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, 12 for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

Corem Deo

Jesus is often referred to as the greatest teacher of all time.  And our passage today is just another example of why I believe that is true.  Jesus desires to teach his disciples how God’s intimate knowledge and love for them releases them from fear and worry.  How does he unpack such an incredibly glorious truth?  He points towards sparrows and your hair!
 
Sparrows are the most populous bird in the entire world.  There’s an estimated 1.6 billion house sparrows flying around.  You’ve probably heard the expression “a dime a dozen.”  Well, you could have gotten 50 sparrows for the price of a dime in Jesus’s day.  Yet Jesus points out that God remembers them ALL because they are so valuable to him. 
 
But Jesus goes further!  Did you know that there are currently 8.1 billion people in the world and that the average human head has 90,000-150,000 individual hairs?  If we just take a median number of 120,000 hairs and multiplied that by 8.1 billion people, it would make a world total of 972,000,000,000,000!  That’s almost a quadrillion individual hairs!  His intimate knowledge of what seems to be the most insignificant aspects of His creation is complete and perfect.
 
Jesus’s point is intuitive.  If God takes care of such trivial things, how much more can we trust that He knows the heaviest, hardest, darkest secrets and concerns that we carry? We don’t have to wonder if he knows or cares.  He understands it better than we do!  Afterall, when was the last time you took an accurate count of the number of hairs on your head?