Day Four: Four Calling Birds
Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. (Psalm 50:2 ESV)
Beauty in Truth
A calling bird is not a particular avian breed. Rather it is a type of bird, any bird, that makes beautiful sounds. Crows are not calling birds, but robins are. Parrots are not calling birds, but meadowlarks are. Emus are not calling birds, but canaries are.
But beauty is not really in the ear of the beholder. Beauty is found in things that adhere to God’s character, truth, and Person. The beautiful dulcet tones of calling birds are beautiful because God made them that way.
These four calling birds represent the Biblical gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are beautiful because God spoke them. They are beautiful because they speak God’s truth. They are beautiful because they were carefully crafted, just like all of Scripture, to bring God’s truth to God’s people.
They are not the Most Important Part of the Bible… but they are a clear description of the life and death and life of our Jesus, and are therefore the kind of beauty of which we need more
Our creations are not beautiful because we declare them so. They are beautiful when they are God-directed and God-inspired. And we can not always do that. But Jesus can.