Stewardship of your blessings

 This week's verses are Proverbs 27:23-27:

Know well the condition of your flocks,
And pay attention to your herds;
For riches are not forever,
Nor does a crown endure to all generations.
When the grass disappears, the new growth is seen,
And the herbs of the mountains are gathered in,
The lambs will be for your clothing,
And the goats will bring the price of a field,
And there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
For the food of your household,
And sustenance for your attendants.

I was reading these verses and they stood out to me, because I had been noticing some neglected things among my possessions and how they had decayed over time. I happened to take a walk around the perimeter of my land and saw that one of my fences had a giant log resting on it, crushing it slowly. It had been there for some time, but I had not seen it early enough to prevent the damage.

I also visited friends who had food that had spoiled months ago in their fridge, and never noticed it. And a friend of mine needed to use tools that had not been maintained, and had misplaced the pieces he needed to maintain them. We all have stories like this. We live our lives in a small corner of our world and neglect what is happening just outside.

The book of Proverbs is full of ancient wisdom. It is more than two thousand years old, but the things written in it apply to our lives today, even if the specific details of some of their cultural references could use some updating.

In a nomadic culture like the ones in the early parts of the Bible, a man's wealth was stored in his livestock. People didn't own a lot of things because they had to move constantly to find fresh pastures and water. You wouldn't be carrying around lots of furniture and electronics and knicknacks. Gold and silver weigh a lot too. Instead, you would have a massive flock of animals, and you would trade those animals for what you needed.

The author is telling us to keep an eye on the condition of our flocks. We might dismiss it naively because we don't have livestock, but we shouldn't. What he's saying is don't take your blessings for granted. Don't just go on autopilot and expect tomorrow to be just like today, or maybe even better. Stock markets crash. Friends and relatives die or move away. Things decay with age and neglect. Nobody drives the same car their whole life, unless that life is tragically short.

And notice that the author is not just saying to make sure the flock is taken care of. He's also talking to rich people, and rich people would have had people to manage their livestock for them. What he is telling us is that we ourselves must take responsibility for the blessings we have, and be proactive in their care. We can't just set it and forget it. We have to be awake. We can't just pay some dude to put on robes and do our living for us.

There are a lot of things in our lives that could be seen as our "flock."  The most obvious would be our relationships. Jesus refers to his church as a flock of sheep. Will your relationship with God maintain itself? Will your church community always be healthy? Will your family always know you love them? Will your friends always know you as a friend? Do you know the condition of these relationships? Are you paying attention?

But our flocks could also be our health. Will you always be in good shape without doing anything particular? Will you always be a healthy weight? Are you paying attention to the condition of your physical body, or your mental health? Do you see it as a treasure in the same way as a shepherd might see his flock?

It could also be time or money or our physical possessions. Do you know the condition of your schedule? Are you paying attention to the days and hours? Do you know where your money is going and if you are in danger of running out? Do you see these things that God has given you as something you have responsibility for? Do you see them for the blessings that they are?

The author says that riches disappear and regimes change. Are you relying on things just being as they are, never decaying, never being impacted by world events, never suffering unexpected loss? Will your relationship with God survive these mundane forces?

We are wealthy people who are at the mercy of forces we cannot control. But we can control some things, and it is wisdom to try to do so. We can choose to invest time in prayer and seeking God. We can choose to invest our resources in others who have needs. We can pay attention to the effects of time and resist the destruction that comes with neglect. We can be active participants.

A good shepherd needs to be wise and attentive. He needs to be aware of his surroundings, and also to be tuned to the needs of those in his care. He can't just assume someone else is going to take care of it. We have God's love as our most valuable possession, and an endless flock to care for as the treasure he has trusted us to keep. Take some time to make yourself aware of the condition of your flock and pay attention to the care it will need.