Keeping Vigilant

For Monday, December 17, 2007
Proverbs 27:23-27

23 Know well the condition of your flocks,
and give attention to your herds,
24 for riches do not last forever;
and does a crown endure to all generations?
25 When the grass is gone and the new growth appears
and the vegetation of the mountains is gathered,
26 the lambs will provide your clothing,
and the goats the price of a field.
27 There will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
for the food of your household
and maintenance for your girls.

Do not rest on your present riches or your present success. You must continue to be vigilant with maintaining how you receive your income and be caring of those who serve you. Verse 24 indicates that this proverb is to be applied to the shepherd-king. He is to regard his people as his flock, tending to their needs. Through such care he is actually assuring his own prosperity.

Two lessons we can learn. One, we are to be always vigilant. Many a successful entrepreneur has lost what he earned because he thought he had "made it" and could now rest. It is true that one can alter his work, but he cannot rest from work. He must be diligent in looking over his enterprise, even if he turns it over to trustworthy stewards.

For - the second lesson - if he does not give proper care to his stewards, and they do not give it to the workers, then the system will break down. Just as the farmer must provide nourishment to his flock to assure that they produce, so an employer or manager must nurture their workers. It is through nurturing, not through threats, that employees do their best work and remain loyal.

One other lesson is to remember our Shepherd-King who keeps watch over us, who feeds us with his Word, who nourishes us in the gospel. Here is one who gave up riches to make us rich. And as a result his crown will endure to all generations.