Every day, I give grain to my livestock. I don't give the pelleted feed that looks like hamster food, though: I give the whole grains with kernels of corn and oats soaked in molasses (actually, if it wasn't so hard, I'd be tempted to chew on a bit myself). This grain rolls right off of our big plastic scooper in clumps and and plunks right into the....well, it's supposed to go right into the feeder, but that usually doesn't happen. You see, at feeding time, the animals swarm in a violent and furry pit. They fight and thrash for their portion. They hardly sit still with crossed hooves and wide, hopeful eyes bleating a polite,"Please, mum, is it time for breakfast?" No, it's very hard to get the feed to go where it's intended to go. It usually ends up getting dumped right on top of an animal.
For a long time, this frustrated me. I felt that this feed was getting wasted because a large portion would then slide off of their body and get trampled underfoot. I pay good money for this food, and they hardly seem grateful! Truly, someone should take the time to devise an economics course for sheep and goats---they've got a thing or two to learn.
In time, I began to notice what happened to the grain that got spilled onto the backs of my animals and really understand the full picture of what was going on. God is a perfect God and He hates waste as much as I do if not more. He doesn't really allow it in a full sense. The grain that gets trampled underfoot does not get eaten by my sheep or goats; they're too picky for that. As the furry mob dissipates, though, my poultry moves into the scene and pecks at the ground. The chickens can pick up a sliver of oat so narrow with their pointed beak, and a duck can dabble its wide bill in the thick bedding to pick up any loose pieces of corn. My poultry was gleaning! What the bumbling oafs left behind, they gleaned.
This alone would be satisfying, but no! God is bigger than satisfying! My sheep have thick hair on their backs (no, they do not have wool, though, it is just thick hair) and this thick hair catches grain in it. For a good half hour after I've fed them, they continue to feed each other. They stand in a circle and take turns eating off of each other's backs! They glean with their teeth and pull off the loose grains and at the same time, some other animal is doing the same to their back while another is....you get the picture. As soon as I saw this, I thought of the church: (bear with me on this) God pours out his abundance from above and we catch some on ourselves. We then share what God has poured out on us as we glean what He has poured on our brothers and sisters! Unity of the Spirit! The Community and Body of Christ! Such beauty!
Paul teaches in the Romans 12:13-16: " Share what you have with God's people and practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you-bless them, don't curse them! Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Be sensitive to each other's needs- don't think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends."
I was so blessed with this that I knew I had to share it. I was immediately excited to go and share my abundance with others that I knew was sticking all over me with the sticky sweetness not of molasses but of the assurance of salvation in Christ. I wanted to share it and in turn glean the wholesome sweetness of Jesus from those around me. Hallelujah!
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