Proverbs 27:23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds
Chances are good that you have a farmer somewhere in your family tree. Your great-grandparents or great-great-grandparents may have lived on a farm or farmed in some way just to stay alive. That is no longer the case with most people. Most of us are not farmers today. On my mom’s side of the family everyone was a farmer from as far back as I know until my mom’s generation. When you farm, you learn a lot of things just by living and observation that you otherwise would have to learn artificially or may never learn. For instance, when you live on a farm, you learn about birth, growth, death, and the cycle of how it begins again.
In Proverbs 27 the Bible gives us God’s timeless wisdom through observation of the world that God has created. This is largely through agriculture. Proverbs 27:23 says, “Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds.” Chances are great that you don’t have a flock or a herd, but you can learn from those who did. Verse 24 says, “For riches are not for ever; and doth the crown endure to every generation?”
He goes on in the last three verses of the chapter to talk about agriculture and how it applies. Verses 25-27 say, “The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.” There is an important lesson here: a good steward knows what he has. That is why the Bible says to be diligent, to know the state of your flocks, and to look well to your herds. A good steward knows what he has.
If you don’t know what you have, you can’t be a good steward of it. If you don’t know what your gifts are, how can you steward them well? If you don’t know what your weaknesses are, how can you delegate them? If you don’t know an opportunity when it is staring you in the face, then how will you succeed at what it is that you are doing? A good steward knows what he has.
Now, what we have has been given by God. A farmer can plant, cultivate, and water a seed, but God is the one who gives it life. There is not a farmer on the planet who can make an ear of corn grow, but he can cultivate it. God is not going to make corn or anything else profitable grow unless there is someone to steward that seed. Likewise in your life, whatever it is that you have in your hands, a good steward knows what he has.
First, nothing is static. Verse 24 says that riches and the crown will not last forever. Just look at your own family tree. Does the family farm that your family may have lived on and worked three hundred years ago still exist? Probably not. Nothing is static, not money, wisdom, knowledge, youth. Everything you have right now is dynamic. It has not stopped. So, be a good steward of what you have. Verse 25 talks about tender grass. Jesus said that the grass is here today and gone tomorrow. The grass that won’t stop growing in July is dead and gone in January.
Second, everything will either grow or spoil. Verse 27 talks about goat’s milk. If you steward what you have, you will have goat’s milk enough for your food. Do you like goat’s milk? You may or may not. I remember a year ago we were driving down the interstate when I saw a sign for an ice cream parlor and thought, “That sounds good!” It was one of those exits that ended up being a long, long country road. When we finally got to the ice cream parlor, we found it was a goat dairy. It was goat ice cream. I’m sure that is healthy, but I’m sorry to say I turned my nose up at it and kept on driving.
Maybe you like cow’s milk. Recently I pulled a gallon of milk out my refrigerator and poured it in a glass. I began to pour that glass into my mouth when I smelled something horrible. The milk was out of date. It had spoiled. So, everything will either grow or spoil. Milk is good today, but if you don’t steward it, it will spoil tomorrow.
You have what you need today, even though it may be in seed form. A wise person will realize that what he has is a gift from God. He recognizes his gifts, perhaps delegates his weaknesses, and recognizes opportunities. He knows that nothing is static, everything can grow or spoil, and what we have is what we need. If I am industrious and a good steward, then I can honor God and help the people around me.