Corona Devo 1960
Sometimes we don't know what our next steps in serving the Lord are. ...And sometimes we can be sure.
This week is church camp week for our children, and for many other young people too. This week, last week, and in the weeks (and year!) to come: church opportunities will abound, and whether we are sending young people, teaching young people, mentoring the next generation, or supporting them in prayer/finance/spirit....we should be giving careful attention to our next generation, or (as the Bible puts it), our flocks and herds.
As I sat down to pray for not only our children but for all of the children of the next-generation-in-Christ, God met me in there in prayer:
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; (24) for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.
(25) When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, (26) the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. (27) You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants. ~Proverbs 27:23-27
In preparation for this week of church camp, there have been prayers. There have been many invitations: from me to other parents but also from our kids to their peers. And God has provided willingness and opportunity to those interested in attending church camp.
Sometimes we don't know what our next steps in serving the Lord are. ...And sometimes we can be sure. I am sure that a week engaging in Bible-based community and teaching is where my flock and herd belong, as well as every other young person that will be in attendance.
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; (24) for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.
(25) When the hay is removed and new growth appears and the grass from the hills is gathered in, (26) the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. (27) You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants. ~Proverbs 27:23-27
Lord, whether we are attending a church camp this week or waking up in our own bed the way we do every day, You have set the pieces in place for us to serve You by serving others today.
Some days Your Word calls our individual hearts into accountability and dissection. Some days Your Word comforts and consoles us. And today, the Bible instructs us to lift our eyes and to look outward at our flocks and herds before us. Our flocks. Those that we know. Possibly young people, but anyone within our circles or areas of influence. Know the condition of them. Give careful attention to them.
And may we invest in them today. May we enrich our flocks and herds in their faith in God today. May we build them up in the Bible! And may we encourage them in their walks with the Lord.
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds... ~Proverbs 27:23
And why?
Because nothing else is guaranteed in life except our Lord and His dominion over today and tomorrow.
...for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. ~Proverbs 27:23-24
What the world offers and what people often get caught-up-in will not endure forever. Riches do not endure forever.
The way that I understand Proverbs 27 is that God teaches us to invest, teach, raise up, care for, know the condition of, and give careful attention to our flocks and herds: those within our reach, our jurisdiction, and those within our path.
After all, nothing else matters in the end. Riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations (Proverbs 27:24).
But, if we will serve the Lord by sharing Him with others...then God will provide for us. His word promises it. If we know the condition of our flocks and give careful attention to our herds, then the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. (27) You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants (Proverbs 27:26-27).
Some things may have changed throughout the decades with this translation, but the point that God is making is clear: Invest (in the Name of the Lord) in your flocks and herds today...and we will be taken care of tomorrow: Us, and our family, and even extensions of us.
...the lambs will provide you with clothing, and the goats with the price of a field. (27) You will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed your family and to nourish your female servants. ~Proverbs 27:26-27.
I can't be sure of exactly what this means for our tomorrow, but the general tone of God in these verses provides me with peace and hope that--if we will stick with our Savior and give careful attention to those in our herds, the tomorrow will be okay. (We will have plenty of goats’ milk to feed our family and to nourish our female servants...and so things must work out.)
Again--I can't be sure about that, but we can be sure about this:
Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; (24) for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations. ~Proverbs 27:23-27
Who are our flocks and herds today? How can we know their condition and give careful attention to them?
I can be sure of how to do this for my flocks and herds today: Pray, and get them off to church camp.
sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com
What a beautiful devotional for the kids off in Brazil. What an adventure, not only the physical, but the spiritual. Those kids will all come home with a seed growing in their hearts. Thank you my friend. Love, Aunt Judi.
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