New Members of The Herd

In the last couple of weeks we have had new members of the herd come into our lives. We have four new little bucks and one little doe kid. That's what has kept me so busy I haven't posted in a while, sorry, but I have had my hands full. Why I ever thought goat kids would be easier to care for than my grand-kids is beyond me, for it just isn't so.

Just yesterday two of the little bucks got a little rambunctious and knocked into the heat lamp in their brooder area while they were playing. It broke the clamp that was holding the light and it dropped into the hay on the floor very nearly starting a fire.................. I was blessed that it had rained so much the night before and everything was still damp.

I smelled the smoke first and then saw it bellowing out of their barn stall. I got the kids out and put out the smoldering hay. I secured the heat lamp so that it cannot happen again and they were no worse for the incident. I am blessed that it occurred when I was at home or the result would have been much different. I stopped and counted my blessings right then and there giving God the thanks while I tried to quiet my heart and slow my breathing back to normal.

I couldn't help but wonder.............. How Jesus manages to care for all of his followers. I only have a small herd of goats to care for but Jesus has millions of us to look out for and lead. How much trouble  can we get ourselves into in our own lives? It's no wonder we have troubles, it's so easy to get caught up in our own lives sometimes straying away from God's way of doing things. It's when we get out into the secular world and around people with a secular world view that we can be influenced, that we stray and get into trouble. It usually starts small, just like that little light that made the hay smolder. But it can grow into bigger and worse offences or sin until we are billowing out smoke signaling we are in great danger.

I thank God that he cares for me and directs my steps, sometimes without me even realizing it until much later. Living by his example, spreading the gospel and converting unbelievers; surrounding ourselves with like-minded people makes our neighborhoods safer. It gives us a sense of community and a built in support mechanism to keep us from stumbling and falling. And if we should fall it also gives us someone to help us up and to lead us back to the path of righteousness.

What good would it have done had no one seen the smoke? The barn would have burned and the goats would have been lost. As the body of Christ we should be mindful of the signs of trouble, that we might keep the barn from burning down and our neighbors from being lost as well. Be the watchman on the wall; yell out when you see trouble coming. It's our duty to the body of Christ.