Flocks and Fields

Hey, Y'all,

No, your eyes are not deceiving you: RSTs are back! You'll notice a couple of new things (including a space below for your responses/thoughts) and there's more yet to come. But for now, welcome back!

So, how do we kick off the new-and-improved RSTs blog? Funny you should ask. This particular idea has been simmering for some time now, but a few days ago I ran across this thought that I'd saved a while back. It's funny 'cause I'd just been thinking that we're at the Christmas Equinox (at least that's what I'm calling it) -- the day in the year at which point we are farthest from Christmas. I'd been listening to Christmas music--sounded really sweet and seemed to make the summer heat less oppressive...At any rate, that essay by Jon Walker of PurposeDrivenLife.com referenced this text that finally crystallized the not-entirely-random spiritual thought for today:

“The shepherds went back to their fields and flocks, glorifying and praising God for what the angels had told them, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had said.”
Luke 2:20 (NLT)

I love that. Now read the text again, slowly; see anything interesting?

These shepherds heard the angels; they saw the Christ child. What did they do in response? Did they run off and ensconce themselves in a monastery somewhere where they could preserve the purity of their experience and not be "soiled" by the common?

Nope. They went back to their flocks and fields. Glorifying and praising God, but they went back. They went back to work. They went back to school. They washed the dishes and took out the garbage and did their laundry and paid their taxes. They went back to their flocks and fields.

So too must we. If we are to be of any use in this world we must always return to our flocks and our fields. Christ's life, our chief example, illustrates this principle over and over. The Sermon on the Mount in fact states it explicitly--we are the light of the world (of no use whatsoever if covered up), we are the salt of the earth (of no use whatsoever if safely in the saltshaker).

So: you know that in one way or another angels have sung in your life and you've seen God; what flock has God placed in your hands to tend? What field has He given you to work?

You've been prayed for today...


J