The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I lack. He lets me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life. He leads me along the right paths for His name's sake. (vs. 1-3)
Do I need a shepherd? Do you?
Let us look at sheep. They are very food oriented, so they follow a leader to what they think is better pasture. As they tend to flock together for support, they have a herd mentality. Sheep are gregarious in nature, so they tend to wander off in curiosity to ponder something new. It only takes one sheep to make the others follow. They stay in herds unless one of them gets the itch to move. Leadership is based on the sheep with the biggest horns or the guy who decides he wants to "see what's over there." The sheep will follow either one of these guys anywhere. But if they get into trouble, sheep flee in panic. That is their only real defense against natural enemies.
Now let us look at me. And you. We are fattened America people looking for the next fast-food burger to stuff into our portly selves so we don't have to go home and cook. I sell real estate, and most people don't really care about a big kitchen anymore because they don't use it. Just need the microwave. We are hefty American people who want to let the government pay our way. Increasingly we are giving over our lives to Big Daddy so that our needs will be met while we eat our burger and watch HD-TV. And on that TV we see commercial after commercial telling us sheep what to buy, where to live, how to act, how to look. Because we have forgotten how to think for ourselves, we have been fattened for the kill, I fear. Sheared by anyone who can fool us into giving up our woolen coats for free. Following the guy with the biggest "horns" over the proverbial cliff has become a way of life. Let him think for us. Until we discover the imminence of our fall and panic when it is too late.
And my heart? I will give it away to whatever makes me feel significant. And so will you. That is the way we sheep are made. Loyal to whatever makes us feel better. Better known as addiction. I am as capable of going down that road as anybody if nobody leads my heart to quieter pastures. If there is nothing that can "renew my life." Gregarious in nature, looking for a thrill, curious about what is around the next corner, devoid of the wisdom of checking out the consequences first, this sheep has wandered into enemy territory unaware and been sheared by a dangerous shepherd.
So, my answer? YES. I need a shepherd. Even if I am the horned sheep that people follow, I need a leader so I won't take an entire flock out with the hubris of leadership without guidance. Baaing in the meadow, caught in the brambles, prey for every wolf in the wilderness, who will come and set me free? For that is the end for the sheep who strikes out on her own, defying the parameters of her pasture and the prescience of her shepherd.
But I do not have just any shepherd. My shepherd calls me by name. It takes a while for a sheep to respond to a name the shepherd gives it. But they can eventually understand it when he calls. So it is with me. That my shepherd finds me significant enough to brand with a name amazes me. Listen to what else He does:
He protects His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them in the fold of His garment. He gently leads those who are nursing. Isaiah 40.
He picks me up and cuddles me. Gives me significance and warmth, protection and attention. He sees me. He sees ME!
The Lord says, "See, I Myself, will search for my flock and look for them. As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day. ...I will shepherd them on the mountains and in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will tend them with good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel's lofty mountains. They will lie down in a good grazing place. They will feed in rich pasture...I will tend My flock and let them lie down...I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, strengthen the weak....I will shepherd them with justice."
Isn't this what we really want? To be taken care of? To lie down with no worries? To eat and be satisfied? To be so loved that we are pursued? To be rescued when we are dumb and have wandered off? To be shepherded by One who understands that our day was dark and cloudy and we panicked and ran? And now we are trapped, alone and vulnerable, in need of rescue but incapable of escape? To be up against the very drumming of His heartbeat, protected by our ascent into the folds of His garments? Don't we really want to follow Someone Who knows the way? Who is acquainted with life beyond our little pasture?
"I assure you: Anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all of his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They will never follow a stranger. Instead they will run away from him (flee in panic) because they don't recognize the voice of strangers. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, they will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture....I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep....I know My own sheep, and they know Me....I lay down my life for the sheep...they will be one flock with one Shepherd." Jesus. (John 10)
I need this Shepherd.
Do I need a shepherd? Do you?
Let us look at sheep. They are very food oriented, so they follow a leader to what they think is better pasture. As they tend to flock together for support, they have a herd mentality. Sheep are gregarious in nature, so they tend to wander off in curiosity to ponder something new. It only takes one sheep to make the others follow. They stay in herds unless one of them gets the itch to move. Leadership is based on the sheep with the biggest horns or the guy who decides he wants to "see what's over there." The sheep will follow either one of these guys anywhere. But if they get into trouble, sheep flee in panic. That is their only real defense against natural enemies.
Now let us look at me. And you. We are fattened America people looking for the next fast-food burger to stuff into our portly selves so we don't have to go home and cook. I sell real estate, and most people don't really care about a big kitchen anymore because they don't use it. Just need the microwave. We are hefty American people who want to let the government pay our way. Increasingly we are giving over our lives to Big Daddy so that our needs will be met while we eat our burger and watch HD-TV. And on that TV we see commercial after commercial telling us sheep what to buy, where to live, how to act, how to look. Because we have forgotten how to think for ourselves, we have been fattened for the kill, I fear. Sheared by anyone who can fool us into giving up our woolen coats for free. Following the guy with the biggest "horns" over the proverbial cliff has become a way of life. Let him think for us. Until we discover the imminence of our fall and panic when it is too late.
And my heart? I will give it away to whatever makes me feel significant. And so will you. That is the way we sheep are made. Loyal to whatever makes us feel better. Better known as addiction. I am as capable of going down that road as anybody if nobody leads my heart to quieter pastures. If there is nothing that can "renew my life." Gregarious in nature, looking for a thrill, curious about what is around the next corner, devoid of the wisdom of checking out the consequences first, this sheep has wandered into enemy territory unaware and been sheared by a dangerous shepherd.
So, my answer? YES. I need a shepherd. Even if I am the horned sheep that people follow, I need a leader so I won't take an entire flock out with the hubris of leadership without guidance. Baaing in the meadow, caught in the brambles, prey for every wolf in the wilderness, who will come and set me free? For that is the end for the sheep who strikes out on her own, defying the parameters of her pasture and the prescience of her shepherd.
But I do not have just any shepherd. My shepherd calls me by name. It takes a while for a sheep to respond to a name the shepherd gives it. But they can eventually understand it when he calls. So it is with me. That my shepherd finds me significant enough to brand with a name amazes me. Listen to what else He does:
He protects His flock like a shepherd. He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them in the fold of His garment. He gently leads those who are nursing. Isaiah 40.
He picks me up and cuddles me. Gives me significance and warmth, protection and attention. He sees me. He sees ME!
The Lord says, "See, I Myself, will search for my flock and look for them. As a shepherd looks for his sheep on the day he is among his scattered flock, so I will look for My flock. I will rescue them from all the places they have been scattered on a cloudy and dark day. ...I will shepherd them on the mountains and in the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the land. I will tend them with good pasture, and their grazing place will be on Israel's lofty mountains. They will lie down in a good grazing place. They will feed in rich pasture...I will tend My flock and let them lie down...I will seek the lost, bring back the strays, bandage the injured, strengthen the weak....I will shepherd them with justice."
Isn't this what we really want? To be taken care of? To lie down with no worries? To eat and be satisfied? To be so loved that we are pursued? To be rescued when we are dumb and have wandered off? To be shepherded by One who understands that our day was dark and cloudy and we panicked and ran? And now we are trapped, alone and vulnerable, in need of rescue but incapable of escape? To be up against the very drumming of His heartbeat, protected by our ascent into the folds of His garments? Don't we really want to follow Someone Who knows the way? Who is acquainted with life beyond our little pasture?
"I assure you: Anyone who doesn't enter the sheep pen by the door but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens it for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought all of his own outside, he goes ahead of them. The sheep follow him because they recognize his voice. They will never follow a stranger. Instead they will run away from him (flee in panic) because they don't recognize the voice of strangers. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, they will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture....I am the good Shepherd. The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep....I know My own sheep, and they know Me....I lay down my life for the sheep...they will be one flock with one Shepherd." Jesus. (John 10)
I need this Shepherd.
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