Seeds For Thinking

Link: http://seedsforthinking.oldgleaner.com/

* The Lambs Finally Got It!
* Scripture: Jesus said to Peter, "Feed my lambs;" "Tend my sheep;" "Feed my sheep." (from John 21:15-17)

O Happy Day! The lambs finally got it! They all stayed with the rest of the flock when it came time to move.
We practice a system of grazing that requires frequent moves from one section of the pasture to another. Once we have the portable fences set up for the next paddock, we open the fence and let the sheep move onto fresh grass.
The older sheep know the routine, and stand waiting whenever they see us getting ready. The lambs, though, are so full of life and vigor that they seem to lose track of where mama is and what the rest of the flock is doing.
"Lambie-Lambie-Lambie-SHEEP!" Heads pop up, grazing stops, and the sheep move toward the shepherd. It takes a while for lambs to associate the shepherd's call with a move to a better pasture, though. Running and leaping is such fun that it takes some of them a while to notice that they have been left behind. Then they are apt to panic and try to go through the fence rather than the open gate. They may also turn and run the opposite way, away from safety, away from nourishment.
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs, tend my sheep." What if the Shepherd is willing, but the lambs won't cooperate?
Thinking about this gives me a new appreciation of the task Jesus gave Peter:
I can just imagine Peter praying about it. "Lord, about these sheep of yours: Some never seem to catch on. They don't associate the Good Shepherd's call with a better life ahead. They are having such a good time that they don't gather with the rest of the flock."
"They seem to prefer pleasure and comfort above the Word that proceeds from the mouth of God." (Mt. 4:4)
"I call them to come to Your gate in the sheepfold, Lord, but they either do not hear me, or ignore my call. They seem to have no problems hearing the call of the evil one, though. I am not an hireling who leaves the sheep. I would be willing to lay down my life for the sheep, just as you did for all of us. I fear that some of them will be left behind and lost forever."
We, as Christians, find ourselves in Peter's shoes. We are both sheep and shepherds, in the tradition of Matthew Chapter 10.
As sheep, we need to listen to the call of The Good Shepherd.
As shepherds, we need to share with the sheep 'out there' that Jesus is indeed the door, the way to salvation, and lead the lambs to find the pasture of eternal life.
June 18, 2006

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Scripture: “I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also he has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.” Ecc 3:10-11

"Take time to smell the roses"
There were no roses blooming anywhere nearby, not even multiflora roses in the fence rows, but I did spend some time to take in the view spread out before me.
I had a few moments during the evening of a beautiful day in late spring to contemplate the majesty of God's wonders in a pastoral setting that could have been straight out of the 23rd Psalm. The succulent grass was green with the fullness of spring rains. I watched our sheep grazing in the pasture as I replenished their drinking water from a tank on my truck. The lambs were now confident enough to leave their mommas for group races around the pasture, leaping and twisting in midair, filled with the joy of life and the security of their surroundings. "For you are with me; Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me," I thought - (Psalm 23:4b) and I in turn comfort my sheep.
Our two livestock guardian dogs wandered through the flock, pausing now and then to sniff and listen to assure that nothing dangerous had crept in. At one point they trotted over to the fence line and began to bark, looking at the field to the south. What did they detect? I could not tell, but some creature undoubtedly learned that they were alert and on duty.
"Red sky at night . . . ." The forecast was for fair weather on the morrow, and the thin, high-altitude clouds glowed in affirmation.
I shifted my gaze from the western skies, across the pastures, toward our neighbors to the east - the township cemetery. The tombstones glowed in the fading light, marking the final resting place of many people that I knew, including the former owners of this land upon which I now stood. A memorial marker etched with their names and the span of their lives sits just over the fence, as close as they could get to the land they once walked.
"One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever." Ecclesiastes 1:4, NKJV
I trust that my family and I will be found to be good stewards of this land that they so much enjoyed and cared for in their time. Our children, and already our children's children, come to this place to share in the task which we have undertaken to carry on.
Hopefully, we can instill an awareness of eternity in their hearts, much as some now lying there in such silent repose have instilled that knowledge into our own hearts.
"Where are they now?" I wonder, those souls whose earthly shells rest in the silence of the ages. Rich or poor, mighty or meek in their earthly time, that brief span determined their status for eternity. Neither I nor any mortal can find out that final work of God. I ponder the words of "The Preacher." the author of Ecclesiastes:
"I know that whatever God does, it shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, and nothing can be taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before him.
That which is has already been, and what is to be has already been; and God requires an account of what is past. (Ecc. 3:14-15)
Like the dying embers of a giant fire, the glow in the west slowly faded, the sky darkened, and, as if mirroring life itself, the memorials dimmed and disappeared into the enveloping cloak of night.
May 28, 2006