A FLOCK MENTALITY

"So shall the waste cities be filled with flocks of men:
and they shall know that I am the Lord"
(Ezekiel 36:38).

Of all the animals in the world. God choose to call us His sheep. Most animals can survive independently, but not sheep. They have a flocking mentality. They get agitated if they are separated from the flock. When the shepherd finds the sheep and brings it back to the flock, it becomes happy, secure, and contented again.

God not only calls us His sheep, but His flock. God did not create us to live independently either, but to be part of a family. He sets the solitary in families (Psalm 68:6). He wants everyone to be part of a family. This is God's design.

Throughout God's Word, He continually likens us to a flock. As we read the following Scriptures we learn how God wants us to function as families.

The Bible says that God . . .

MAKES FAMILIES LIKE A FLOCK

Psalm 103:41-43 says, "Yet he sets the poor on high, far from affliction, and makes their families like a flock. The righteous see it and rejoice, and all iniquity stops its mouth. Whoever is wise will observe these things, and they will understand the lovingkindness of the Lord."

Have you ever seen a flock of 1.8 sheep (the average number of children in American families)? Even two or three sheep is hardly a flock. Why do many parents laugh at the concept of a flock? Because they have been brainwashed by our humanist society. That's not how they felt when they were little. Ask any child what they would like best of all and they will answer, "Another baby brother or sister." No toys or materialistic things you can give your children can ever make up for another sibling who will be their friend for life.

When there is a "flock" of children in a family, they don't feel the same need to go off looking for other peers as they have so many friends in their own family.

What does God say about it? He says that when the righteous see God blessing a family with another child they rejoice! This is a rather different reaction than most people have today. Even amongst Christians we constantly hear: "You're' not having another baby, are you?" "Glad it's you and not me!" "Don't you know how to stop making babies?" "Haven't you got enough already?" These comments do not come out of the mouths of the righteous.

God also says that the wise will understand that when a family receives another precious baby that it is the lovingkindness of the Lord. They don't make negative remarks. They don't degrade them. Instead, they rejoice with them and praise the Lord.

A precious couple shared how they experienced the lovingkindness of the Lord with their new baby. They were debating whether they should have more children. Their parents and friends were against it, but they felt the Holy Spirit wooing them to obey God's Word. They went ahead and trusted the Lord and sometime later conceived their sixth baby.

About this time, they felt that they were losing one of their teenage sons who was in public school. He was pulling away from God and from the family. They decided to bring him home from the public school and educate him at home. He came home about the time their little baby was born. Because he was at home, this young man bonded with his little baby brother. This little baby softened his heart. The rebellion left. He turned back to God and to his family. This couple rejoiced that they were not only blessed with another baby, but they received back their son who was lost. God's lovingkindness came to them through adding to their flock.

When the righteous see God blessing and increasing a family, they rejoice. They are wise enough to know it is the lovingkindness of the Lord. Don't you think it's time for us to think like God thinks? Read also Ezekiel 34:31 and Micah 2:12.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

PRAYER:

"Thank you, Father, that I belong to your flock, and therefore you watch over me and care for me. Help me to shepherd my family too and to welcome all the children you have planned for my little flock. Help me to have a flock mentality. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:

I am shepherding my flock with love and care.

To be continued.