Obil.

1 Chronicles 23-27 details the jobs that David assigned to various people as part of the Temple-building project near the end of his life. There were men in charge of music and sacrifices, military divisions and the city gates. The Twelve Tribes were reorganized and leaders were assigned. David is transitioning his kingdom from a wartime footing to a peacetime footing in preparation to hand it all over to his son, Solomon.

Obil was in charge of camels. Not the divisions or the musicians or the treasury - just camels. That's what God called him to. Camels.

The thing is, somebody had to watch the camels so that they'd be where they were supposed to be when they were needed. I mean, you couldn't have camels wandering all over Israel could you? In that part of the world, Camels were (and still are to some degree) an important piece of the economy. They provided milk, and meat. They were pack animals, able to endure conditions that would have killed another animal. Camels were the means by which Israel transported goods to market, so they were probably the most important animal in terms of Israel's economy.

But...man. Camels are boring. Not only that, but they're cranky and they STINK. Predictably, there was little status associated with watching camels, or any other herd animal. It was a job for the lower class. Obil would never cross class boundaries to become a leader of the tribe. Watching camels was his lot.

The fact that the passage spends exactly zero time articulating Obil's opinion of his station is telling. Clearly, the Bible doesn't seem overly concerned with how Obil felt about his lot. It simply assumes that some people are called to watch camels, and that there's nothing wrong with that.

I mean, why would any of us assume that we're *not* Obil? Are we so presumptuous as to reject what God calls us to in favor of something that comes with a more promenent status? Why would we think that God would never call us to give up something we love to watch camels?

I think scripture teaches precisely the opposite. It's better to herd camels, if that's what God calls you to, and never aspire to anything else than to spend your life trying to achieve something "better." If you do, then you'll be miserable if you don't attain it, and even more miserable if you do. Doing the ordinary thing that God has called you to, the thing that's right in front of you today, is better than anything else you could be doing at this moment.

Obil watched camels, and I think he was happy.