It is not uncommon to see ants scurrying around the door at Calvary Chapel Sydney. As I greeted people arriving to church yesterday, I noticed an ant casualty. In trying to elude the sun, this unfortunate ant had found a spot under someone's shoe. A few minutes later I saw the ant carcass had been picked up by another ant and was carried away. My mind went to the proverb of Solomon recorded in Proverbs 6:6-8: "Go to the ant, you sluggard! Consider her ways and be wise, 7 which, having no captain, overseer or ruler, 8 provides her supplies in the summer, and gathers her food in the harvest." One of the things ants do is pick up their fallen. When ants die, they release oleic acid during decomposition which alerts other ants to dispose of the deceased.
One tradition in the United States Marines for which they are known is they never leave their own behind. When another soldier is wounded or falls in combat, his brothers in arms with carry him to safety - even at the risk of their own lives. All these thoughts came together in a flash as I considered what our family had read in Ezekiel the night before concerning God's love towards His children. Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-16 reads, "For thus says the Lord GOD: "Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day...15 I will feed My flock, and I will make them lie down," says the Lord GOD. 16 I will seek what was lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken and strengthen what was sick; but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and feed them in judgment."
For me this ant illustration was a strong exhortation to examine myself in light of God's description of what pastoral work includes. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd. He feeds the flock, seeks the lost, brings back those who have been driven away, binds up the broken, and strengthens the sick. By the grace of God I desire Jesus Christ to do these things through me and others in the church. How good it is to have such sweet affection and desire of God fixed upon us! This is the same love that God desires to work in and through us to reach the world. May we submit to such love!
I Praise my GOOD Shepherd that when I was lost, He came searching, and did not stop until He found me. What unfailing, neverending, pefect love. Lord, may You find in me that same desire for others to be found and to love them as You do. Fill me with Your heart for others, Lord.
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