Our Heavenly Beekeeper

Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Listen to this devotional:
Listen while you read: "Yield Not To Temptation"1 (Lyrics)

Have you ever thought of God as our heavenly beekeeper? I never did — until I had a visit with a beekeeper.

I'll never forget that day, sitting with the beekeeper in his home and hearing him talk about his bees. He owns a few hundred hives and is losing his bees — millions of them — mainly due to pesticide use. But it was not the gruelling facts or statistics that gripped me that day; it was the way he talked about his bees. I sensed his deep empathy for them. He felt both sorrow and joy. He said, "When I open a hive and I hear the sound of those bees all humming, I feel very happy. I know they are happy too, busily doing what they are made to do."

Then, as he described their suffering, I saw him suffer too. I heard it in his voice; I saw it in his eyes. He shared how he'd watch them stumble around with wobbly legs in a confused stupor. They were too sick to fulfill their duties, too weak to care for their young.

For this beekeeper, their loss is his loss. Every bee matters, each one of those millions, all those who are sick or who have left the hive never to return. This beekeeper feels agony for his bees in ways that they can never know. And I could not have known this either, until I was in the presence of this beekeeper and listened to him share his heart.

That reminds me of God. God cares for each one of the seven billion people on earth in ways that they can never know — certainly not when they are distanced from His presence. Here is how God is much more than a beekeeper: God can restore people to Himself through repentance and faith. Their salvation gives Him great joy; and we are privileged to enter into His joy.

The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism is this: "What is the chief end of man?" The answer: "Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever."

Of course we must remember Christ's suffering, but I believe that God's highest desire is that we know and experience His joy. Jesus said, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." (John 15:11 NIV) Our heavenly beekeeper rejoices to hear us "humming" together, being who we were made to be: filled with the full measure of God's joy. That's our God-given destiny.

If you sense that your life is not empowered by the joy of the Lord, you may wish to pray this prayer:

Prayer: Dear heavenly beekeeper, I want to experience Your joy over me. Show me what habits or barriers are pushing me away from You and keeping me from being who You called me to be. Purify my heart from all uncleanness, and restore to me the joy of Your salvation. Amen.

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About the author:

Diane Eaton <dianeeaton6@gmail.com>
Paisley, Ontario, Canada

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1 Comment

  • PresbyCan Feedback says:

    Thank you Diane.


    Thanks for writing Diane.


    Hope you have a good day.


    That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing it with me.


    Thank you so much for an excellent reminder of God’s love for all.


    Very good analogy. Thanks, Diane, for this devotional.
    (Tx)


    Thank you Diane for this lovely reflection. It is sad if we do not feel God’s love and experience the joy in our faith. Well said. Blessings.


    Dear Dee,
    Thank you for the beautiful BEE devotional.
    Keep writing.


    Dear Diane
    I loved your devotional this morning & needed to pray the prayer you supplied.
    Thank you.


    Dear Diane,
    Thanks for the thought for today. It has helped me crystalize something that I have been thinking about church.
    Blessings.


    Wonderful! I have environmental illness or chemical sensitivity and was very sick for many, many years but am now very well. I can certainly relate to the bees and feel for them. I enjoyed your words.
    (B.C.)


    Many thanks for the similarity of relationship drawn that God is a our heavenly beekeeper.
    As a matter of fact your introduction is more of an animation movie I once watched titled “Bee movie”.
    Our Chief aim is to Glorify Him. Indeed this year, my joy has been made complete in Him. All thanks and praise to God now and forever.
    Thanks.


    Good Afternoon Diane:
    What a beautiful and thought provoking devotional.
    Little does one realize how disruptive one is to a bee family when one kills a bee on one’s patio in summer. Almost sinful when we think of the life and the wonderful work ethics of the bee, who is a family member that is so very faithful and loyal to it’s Queen.
    Oh that we should follow the faithfulness of the bee and live daily adhering to the instruction of our Shorter Catechism serving our Lord and making His desires “to glorify Him, and to enjoy him forever” our prime purpose in life.
    A wonderful teaching lesson giving us much to think about.
    Have a pleasant week, Blessings.


    Thank you Diane. Blessings.


    Thank you for the excellent analogy & commentary: it was wonderful!!


    Dear Diane;
    Thank you for your wonderful devotional this morning. Your prayer brought tears to my eyes; it is so true and I claim it for myself.


    Hi Diane,
    I enjoyed you devotional. I am sending your devotional on to my son who has taken up and loves bee keeping.
    Thanks for your inspiration devotional and prayers.
    Blessings.

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