This morning I was scanning my Bible. Yes, scanning, not really reading. I was scanning looking for something that would give me light this morning for my life. I stumbled across Proverbs 27:23 which says, "Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds."

While I don't work on a ranch and have very little experience when it comes livestock, this passage struck me hard this morning. In the Bible, people are often compared to sheep. If you have ever spent any time around sheep, they are ridiculous. They are stupid. They are disobedient. They forget. They are messy. They are high-maintenance. The point is they are far from perfect and in need of a shepherd. As a youth pastor, I have the call of a shepherd. In fact, the literal translation for pastor is shepherd.

The first is know the condition of your flock. I need to know how the people that I minister to are really doing. It's important to understand the context of a person's life before you can really serve to their needs. Every shepherd knows their flock well. They know which sheep will run away. They know which sheep need extra attention. They know which sheep need to be embraced. Every Christian needs to know about the lives of the people around them. Not for the purpose of gossip or personal gain, but to share the gospel in the most effective way.

The second part of this passage tells us how to know the condition of our flock. We need to give them careful attention. Giving attention means we need to spend time with them. We need to be with people. This means that we need to disengage from the video games, internet, and television and plug into real relationships. It's scary to get unplugged. But if we don't do it, we fail to know the people around us. God said that it was not good for man to be alone. We need community. We need the community that the Bible talks about that are filled with love, peace, and purpose.