Sheep flock to a McDonald’s in Wales: How will you be remembered?

A kangaroo was recently seen
bouncing through the deserted streets of the South Australian capital of
Adelaide. A pride of lions was pictured lounging across a road in South
Africa’s Kruger National Park.

But for an iconic image of the
pandemic’s stay-at-home restrictions, it will be hard to surpass the sheep seen
grazing at a McDonald’s in Ebbw Vale, Wales.

A man who posted their picture
to a community social media page remarked, “Even the sheep . . . are
having McDonald’s withdrawals.” They didn’t try the drive through,
choosing instead to graze on a patch of grass.

I had not heard of Ebbw Vale, Wales, before seeing this story. Now its sheep at McDonald’s will be the way I picture the town.

How will you be remembered?

A single image can be how
history remembers us. When I think of World War II, for instance, I picture the
bombing of Pearl Harbor and General Eisenhower exhorting the troops before
D-Day.

In a similar fashion, a single
verse in Scripture has become my enduring image of a tribe of Israel and its
significance today.

In Numbers 1 we learn that the
tribe of Issachar numbered 54,400 men “able to go to war” (vv.
28–29). They seem to be like the rest of the tribes, varying by size but not by
function.

Fast forward to 1 Chronicles 12,
where we find a similar listing of the troops of Israel. This time, however,
amid the other tribes and their troop numbers we read, “Of Issachar, men
who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, 200
chiefs, and all their kinsmen under their command” (v. 32).

The setting is the transition
from King Saul to David (v. 23). These men joined others “to make David
king over all Israel” (v. 38), but they would be especially significant to
the new king and his reign.

We can be in the 54,200, or we
can be in the 200. The difference is two-fold: seeking an “understanding
of…