Provisions: Part 3 Substance

One of the few things a wildlife manager can have some control of is FOOD. With food plots, habitat manipulations, and other techniques managers can supply their critters with the adequate food requirements they need. However, it is still up to the wildlife, both young and old, to consume what is provided for them. In this devotion you will see how turkeys provide food for their young and compare that with the way God provides us with food spiritually.

The Provision of Substance

I. The Mamma Hen’s Provision
* Serving up Insects and other Invertebrates
With most animals it is up to the mother to provide their young with high quality nutritious food. The whitetail fawn gets its nourishment from its mother’s milk, but the wild turkey poult gets its nourishment from mostly insects. Also, unlike other bird species the young poult must catch its own meal. So, to successfully raise her young, the mamma hen takes them to places where they can feed on these highly nutritious delicacies. They are called bugging areas.

A. The County Side
I have seen hens and their poults many times out in fields covered up with different species of short flowering plants. Any short stemmed flower is perfect for the little guys because with one bite of a small flower yields the poult a mouth full of tiny insects. As a manager I like to plant clovers in all of my food plots. Once the clover plant flowers it attracts many small insects and it is short enough for poults to feed on them.

B. The River Bottom
The hen will also take her young to the edge of creeks, streams, and other low-lying areas where water in present. All sorts of bugs and other invertebrates can be found in these areas. Around 90% of a healthy poult’s food intake is of insects and other inverts. The foliage also around these areas is highly digestible and very nutritious.

II. The Master’s Healthy Provision
* Serving up the Infallible Word of God.
For the young and old Christian it is essential that they feed on God’s Word. If any wildlife species does not get the proper nutrition that it needs it will not grow properly and even may die (especially with the young.) The same is true for the Christian. However, like the little poult you must do it yourselves. Mamma may take you to the church house and even give you a Bible, but you must feed from it yourself. You need to feed from God’s Word daily in order to grow in the faith and grow closer to Him. In order to have a healthy Christian life God’s Word must be a constant. About 90% of a Christian’s growth comes from the intake of the Infallible Word of God. I will delight myself in thy statues: I will not forget thy word. Psalm 119:16. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97.

A. The Church House
During the average Sunday service at my church there are four different lessons from the Bible that is taught. They are one Sunday school lesson, two sermons, and one discipleship training/Bible study lesson. That is a lot of God’s Word feed to those who go to church. A Bible buffet of spiritual nutrition that all of us need to be actively a part.

B. Read your Bible
Attending church and other church activities are important, however, it is only a supplement to daily Bible readings and daily Bible devotions. Somewhat like food plots and supplemental feeding is to a sound management plan on any given property. A believer’s Bible should be their most prized possession because the Lord took it upon Himself to inspire and speak these Words to those who love Him. There is a little saying out there that goes something like this: A person who goes to church just for the preaching hour loves himself; a person who goes to all of the church services loves his pastor and church; however, a person who goes to all of his church’s services and reads his Bible daily, loves his Lord. The Bible is a blessed book. Read It! You will find out that God’s Infallible Word is all the Substance needed. Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Matt. 4:4.

God Bless and Happy Hunting.

Posted by Mark Newell