ONE COLD SPRING our banty hen sat on a clutch of eggs. As they began to hatch, my mother brought them into the house for warmth. My five year old sister sat wide-eyed as she leaned over the hatching chicks, unknowingly imprinting her beautiful little face into their bird brains. As their fluff dried, they instinctively began to move toward that imprint. She moved away. They followed. She moved faster. On they came, peeping their little hearts out. To this day she doesn’t like birds! Under ordinary circumstances, the mother hen keeps close track of her babies and they respond to her call.
Today I carefully lifted the lid of our parakeet nesting box and peered inside. There, in a feather-lined indentation, lay the tiniest five eggs I’ve ever seen. We’re just so excited! In another couple weeks we anticipate the wonder of new life. The first face they see will undoubtedly be their attentive and beautiful blue mother. According to web info, she and their yellow-green daddy, will feed, care for, and teach the incredibly tiny, naked, and blind hatchlings until their eyes open, they grow feathers, and pattern their behavior after their parents.
Zoological imprinting happens when a young animal recognizes another animal, person, or thing as a parent or object of habitual trust. MedicineNet.com says psychological imprinting is “a remarkable phenomenon that occurs in animals, and theoretically in humans, in the first hours of life. The newborn creature bonds to the type of animals it meets at birth and begins to pattern its behavior after them.”
When God created Adam in His image and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, the man became a living soul. No doubt, Adam’s eyes first opened to behold the Son of God. He was imprinted with habitual trust and patterned his behavior after his Creator. However. . . we know the story. Because Adam and Eve chose to follow another voice, they plunged the entire human race into false imprints. Satan told Eve that if she ate from the God-forbidden fruit her eyes would be opened. And so it was. Our eyes opened alright, but not to God. They opened to things of this world and to other gods, after which we follow and pattern our lives.
However, to save us from our wayward and literally dead-end pursuits, God imprinted Himself with humanity. He took on human flesh and imprinted you and me into the palms of His hands (Isa. 49:16). He relentlessly pursues and offers us the breath of eternal life. This new birth opens our eyes to the existence and love of God. We no longer conform to the pattern of this world but are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Rom 12:2). Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me” (Jn 10:27).
King David says God’s goodness and mercy shall “redap” him all the days of his life (Psa 23:6). This Hebrew word means to pursue, chase after, or hound. The English poet Francis Thompson (1859-1907) wrote ”The Hound of Heaven,” a 182-line poem expressing God’s unrelenting pursuit of us. The prophet Hosea illustrates God’s painful, jealous love for unfaithful Israel by taking a harlot as his wife. However, she continues to pursue other lovers. Then Hosea finds her, buys her back, binds up her wounds, and draws her into His arms. Dear ones, God bought us with the highest price in the universe and jealously pursues us with His goodness and mercy.
The “Hound of Heaven” overcomes our natural inclination to doubt His love and wander off by continuing to woo us, calling to us with intense and tender jealousy. The enemy stalks us to destroy us, but God pursues us to protect and deliver us from worldly values, evil inclinations, and deception. Through God’s unrelenting pursuit, we come to recognize Him as our parent in habitual trust. Through faith in Christ, we receive the power of His Spirit to bond with Him and pattern our behavior after Him. His goodness and mercy follow us all the days of our lives.
I will fulfill My purpose for you; Surely My love endures forever—I will not abandon the works of My hands (Psa 138:8)
He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge (Psa 91:4)
Hide me in the shadow of Your wings (Psa 17:8)
I long to dwell in Your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah (Psa 61:4)
Walking in the Vine Light 