Supporting Roles Abound

Scripture Verses that Caught my attention Today: Ezekiel 34:15-16 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice.

Observation: God will ultimately do what we cannot do. At that time no shepherds had been faithful as shepherding the Lord’s people. Finally we learn that the Lord will take over the shepherding role, though not too many verses later we will read of the Lord’s plans to make David the shepherd. Hmmm…and so once again God works through humans.

Application: Lot’s of mixed messages in today’s OT reading. On the one hand sentinels are told that they must warn or else they will be held responsible. From that standpoint I can understand why some people feel compelled to point out what they believe to be sin in others. But later we read, as in the passage above, that humans were not being faithful and/or competent in terms of sharing God’s word. So God decides to take up the shepherding task personally. Yet as I already mentioned, the Lord soon decides to try with humans again, this time in the form of David. Go figure!

It’s a tedious partnership between God and the likes of us. Clearly God is the main actor in the real-life drama. Nevertheless, humans have their place. Supporting roles abound. The trick, of course, is being open to the call to whatever supporting role(s) suit us best.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be open to how I might best serve, even within the realm of how and where I currently serve. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included: Ezekiel 33-35 and Revelation 18)