Robins are famous for being the early bird that gets the worm. Their sharp, single-tone chirp is often the first thing I hear outside my window at the break of dawn.

In my front lawn, automatic sprinklers come on early. After a good soak (shallow watering is not healthful for grass), the nightcrawlers wriggle up to the surface to escape the water. A dozen or so will scramble up on my sidewalk like they're escaping Noah's flood. This happens every morning and after any big rain. There must be many thousands of worms in my yard. You'd think they would know the rains will end but they try to escape for air, afraid of the water.

Soon a worse fate awaits them. If they delay returning to the soil, a robin on patrol will race over and scoop them up for a tasty breakfast. If they survive and linger too long on the sidewalk, the rising sun will cook them on the hot cement. They curl up and die. After a while, the birds have two choices: soft earthworm sushi or crisply baked nightcrawlers. The ants like those best.

One morning I discovered a sleek, lively earthworm (quite a healthy specimen) about 10-inches long (Canadian nightcrawler?) that had crept in under my front door. I suppose he was frustrated since he had found a cool refuge but the carpet was impenetrable and (hopefully) contained no edible particles. It was a good thing my wife hadn't spotted him first. She would have smacked him with a broom thinking he was a snake. I tossed him back on the grass so he could do his beneficial labor of aerating the soil and organically fertilizing our green grass.

In my boyhood days, I sacrificed many an earthworm for the cause of catching a fish. I rarely fished with artificial lures. Some of my friends like fake lures. Some like live bait. I like my friends, regardless. My kids and I would fish with cane poles or an inexpensive rod and reel. We used live worms or white crickets as bait. My daughter insisted that I put the wiggly creatures on her hook for her. Ask her about the bass she once caught on the Suwanee River.

Let me turn this story about robins and worms into a modern parable.

Every morning, the Lord has a huge army--thousands of human robins. These are the early risers. They are believers who wait on the Lord each morning with thanksgiving and prayers. They rise and go into their secret place where they praise the Lord and make intercession (stand in the gap) for America, for family, for the church, and for their own life and witness as a follower of Jesus. I practice this. I pray daily for my government and its leaders. I pray for the kingdom of God to increase. I want to help expand God's goodness into this sin-sick world.

Be a "Robin of God." You'll witness God's word spiritually water the earth (read Isaiah 55). It comes down like a gentle rain--sometimes like a torrent--causing seeds to sprout and green things to grow and to feed all living things. Human beings need spiritual nourishment. As a fellow robin on prayer-patrol, I also spot wicked things that were concealed being flushed out. These evil plots can't stand the light of day. These beings feed on corruption and deception. They run from truth. They can't take the heat. They shrivel up and die when the light hits them.

RON WOOD IS A WRITER AND MINISTER. CONTACT HIM AT [email protected] OR VISIT WWW.TOUCHEDBYGRACE.ORG. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.