Luke 12:32 Do not fear, little flock, for it is your
Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
“Little Flock”, so interesting that Jesus would call us
that. Some say He was just speaking to the disciples that was with Him at that
time but the teaching was shared by Luke for us today.
This message Jesus is teaching here is mainly about, “why
worry, your Father in heaven promises to take care of you”, but “little flock” spoke
to me. Often, I have watched as birds flock together. They stick together. They
move as one. In observing them, you would say they are of one mind. The Father
has put within them this group-think instinct. Each bird must be thinking and
reacting to the birds next to them. They seem to know the intents of the whole
flock. They are like a kingdom that perfectly flows together.
In a flock of birds, you do not see one bird leading all the
others. They function like a kingdom with no king. God is the unseen king.
Relating this to a church, it is like they have no bird pastor or pope.
Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they
neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds
them. Are you not of more value than they.
What would ministry be like if we, as God’s people, could
function like a flock of birds? As church members, what if we were so in tune
with the Father that we needed no overseer? We would all just know our giftings
and would be intently listening for the Holy Spirit to move us in the greater
good of the kingdom.
In reality, we are more like a flock of sheep.
Now sheep are accused of being dumb. They walk into danger
not even sensing the danger. God has designed them in such a way that they need
a shepherd. They need a higher intelligence to keep them in the flock. Sheep do
have a worthy gift; they know their shepherd’s voice and they follow. With our
human failings, we need an overseer. God has ordained overseers.
John 10:27
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.
Let me see what kind of lessons I can learn from this. May
be we fit somewhere between the characteristics of birds and sheep.
First, to function as a Christian in the Kingdom, we are to
be like sheep having a leader, pastor, priest, etc. Someone who stands
responsible to oversee the direction of our lives and lovingly inspires us to
function in our giftings. We just do not have that instinct that automatically
responds to God.
Psalm 100:3 Know that the Lord, He is God; It is He who
has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His
pasture.
Submission to a loving Father is so important. We are
designed to be much more intelligent than birds and sheep. Basically, God told
Adam he had dominion over all the other creatures. We are to manage this world
were God’s innocent animals freely roam.
Least I get into dominion theology, I really want to explore
submission.
Our submission to the Lord is to be neither bird like
instinct nor sheepish surrender. God has endowed us with intellect to make
choices that develop us into responsible coworkers with Him.
Instinct is a very useful tool for preservation, but God did
not plan for us to mindlessly flow through life with no clearly defined
responsibilities. God warns us about worry/fear and how it can derail a peaceful
kingdom life. We do need a healthy respect and assurance of His care for us
like the birds are blessed to have.
Neither are we to mindlessly live life as a sheep being led
from pasture to pasture. We do need that sheepish sensitivity to the
Shepherd/Father’s voice so we can know why we go from pasture to pasture.
I have learned over these many years of walking with the
Lord, submission to His will is where peace and happiness are really found. God
wants coworkers that recognize His way is best. This may sound robotic but
God’s design for us is not anything like that. We are in no way clones but rather
each individually made with distinct characteristics to fulfill distinct task
especially assigned to us. We each have a special relationship with our
Creator. Therefore, our submission takes on a divine domination that affords us
a special relationship with God and His eternal purposes. We are the happiest
when we know and flow in His plans.
So, know this, He has especially designed you to have a
special roll in His divine design. Church is when we flock together for His
pleasure.
