Godly Responsibility – October 27, 2023 (265/365)

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds, for riches do not last forever; and does a crown endure to all generations?

When the grass is gone and the new growth appears and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered, the lambs will provide your clothing, and the goats the price of a field.

There will be enough goats’ milk for your food, for the food of your household and maintenance for your girls.

Proverbs 27:23-27

Hold up, I thought. I had to double check the OliveTree app. I had to double check BibleHub. And okay, it does say ‘maintenance for your girls’ here in Proverbs 27:27, but other translations say ‘attendants’, ‘maids’, ‘maidservants’, and the like. I just wanted that clear.

Anyway, the point here is that it’s important for us who HAVE been blessed with physical goods, to  ‘know (their) condition,’ and ‘give attention’ to them. A lot of folks have been talking about the parable of the Talents, and are giving positive feedback and learning regarding the folks who got and made 10 and 5 talents respectively – from one popular point of view they share that you need to use what God has given you wisely, so that (1) you can double what you have and (2) God would tell you, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant’.

I’m not about to immediately agree with this point of view – there’s also the factor of the servant’s overall trust and outlook on his master, for one, but I’ll probably talk about that some other time; But for purposes of looking deeper into the Proverbs shared, I’ll say that you are a good steward of your good, and you are honoring yourself, your provisions, and the Provider… simply by knowing their condition, and giving due attention to them.

I’ve been learning the hard way recently that investments do not last forever; If you aren’t outright scammed, you aren’t meant to keep your money in a successful venture indefinitely – projects have easy beginnings, and this year we’re learning that they also have their end; and most often than not, these ends aren’t anywhere near pleasant.

Rugpulls abound, giving way to newer scams, and more sophisticated methods to finagle people out of their hard-earned money. And we should be more vigilant than ever. With the rise of AI and all sorts of other tools, we can expect these ‘more sophisticated’ methods to look more natural, just as grass would grow…

…But let us take heart. Christ remains to be the Truth. And just as Christ is the Truth, it is also Christ who gives the growth.

The Body of Christ MUST revel in the Truth, trust in Him not only to be our Truth when there is lack or plenty; we must also trust in Him to be our Growth and our Provision – that we would gather from the mountains, that we would be clothed, and provided for, enough to make sound investments, just as fields.

Let us also trust in Him to be our Growth and our Provision – that we would have food; and not merely for ourselves, but for our households, and others under our care! And it doesn’t stop there, because even those who tend to our house shall be ‘maintained’ as well.

Let’s trust in the Lord, and thank Him. Let’s thank the Lord, and ask from Him, seek Him, and knock on His door.

But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.1 Timothy 6:6-9

I feel as if we should probably talk about ‘godliness with contentment’ sooner or later.

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Actually, why don’t we look into that right now? Really quick, if you want to ‘Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds’, it doesn’t come without ‘godliness with contentment’. And it works the other way around: If you seek to know what godliness with contentment is and how it applies in your life and your walk with Christ, you would do well to know well the condition of what you do have, and give close attention to it.

And if ALL of this is tough to swallow – and obviously in this world we have a lot to contend with that comes against our focus to tend our flocks, or even to express genuine godliness, or heartfelt contentment – it’s okay. It really is. And I say this not to validate your perspectives on the matter, but only because we have an even more excellent way in the body of Christ; That is, to keep on moving in the attitude of gratitude. Sure, sounds cliche… but it works.

We in the body of Christ have EVERYTHING to give thanks for. In fact, when we’re in seasons when we see more reasons to give up, more reasons to complain… we actually have even more reasons to give thanks to God, because of His absolute faithfulness and presence with us during these times.

Let us give thanks, and pray.

Until the next post, coming soon, God bless you.

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