The Rattling of God's Bucket

I was passing by a field near our home in which a Guernsey farmer keeps his sheep. Sheep are not common in our island, where the Guernsey cow has pretty much dominated the fields and farms for so long, but this is one of the more remarkable flocks. The sheep are black and white speckled in colour and have long horns. some of those horns are twisted and give these guys and girls a somewhat hostile appearance.

I was surprised by their posture. Normally they are spread out across the meadow engaged in avid grass consumption. This time, they were stretched out in a line, all turned to look intently towards the farmer's house, situated about 500 metres away down the lane. They ignored me and everything around them as they clearly only had eyes for one thing - their shepherd - but he was nowhere in sight.

As I moved on and passed his home, Tony the farmer was walking out on his way to the field. In his hand he held a metal bucket containing animal feed. Either those sheep had heard the rattling of his bucket, or else they were aware of the time day that he normally came. Whatever, these sheep were looking intently for their shepherd to come.

Are you, as a Christian, looking for the coming again of the Good Shepherd? The Bible says we should be (Titus 2:13). And are we listening out for what God is preparing to do in our day? This is the rattling of God's bucket. It may be faint and distant, but if we are looking to God and listening for Him too, we should be positioning ourselves to be ready.

Do you hear that bucket rattle?

Happy New Year.