“Be sure to know the condition of your flocks,
Give careful attention to your herds.” Prv. 27:23
Each of us has a “flock” and “herd” of whose
condition we are to have thoughtful, meaningful, and intimate understanding. For many of us Prv. 27:23 could read,
“Be sure to know the condition of your family,
your kids, your spouse. Give careful attention to them.”
Do you know the true condition of the flock
(s) to which God has put you in charge?
Here’s a brief example that illustrates a
technique to objectively evaluate the condition of a husband’s heart that loves
his wife as God intends:
Author J. Evans shares: “The countenance of a wife reveals the true character of a man. When we
see a woman who is beaten down and vulnerable, we’re seeing the reflection of a
man who is wounded—and who wounds those he loves. This is a man refusing to
embrace his responsibility before God.
But when we see a woman who exudes confidence and security, a
woman whose eyes shine with glory, a woman of poise and beauty and self-assurance,
we’re seeing the reflection of a man who understands what it means to love and
cherish his wife as Christ loves the church (Eph. 5:25)…Laying down his life to
bring his wife to her full potential before God, holding nothing back.”
Again the question: Do we each know the
genuine condition of the flock (s) God to which has put us in charge? (“Flocks”
at work, our neighborhoods, in church, etc.)
Challenge for this week:
Humble ourselves and embrace Solomon’s example
in Prv. 24:32, where, despite being the most powerful man in the world,
“applied his heart to what he observed and learned
a lesson from what he saw.”
(“learned a lesson” (muwcar) means to be disciplined,
chastened, corrected)
In this case, Solomon 1) observed “his herd”, 2)
humbly applied his heart to these objective findings, and 3) disciplined
himself towards corrective action. ~How about each of us heeds his example this
week?
(~What’s tragic for Solomon is that he chose not to be
consistent with his own advise; time and again he made decisions that
eventually led to his own demise. 1 Kgs. 11:3)
Here’s to consistency!
In the trenches together,
Shaun and Betsy
