Again, this is from BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) where we have been studying the book of John.
John 10 speaks of Jesus being the good shepherd. If only we lived 2,000 years ago and understood fully what Jesus was saying when he spoke of the good shepherd. I don't know any shepherds so most of this came as a new thought about the person of Jesus.
So some facts about shepherds (there are certainly more):
A good shepherd will lay his life down for his sheep.
A good shepherd knows his sheep. The key to the welfare of the sheep was the individual attention and care of each sheep.
After grazing in the field during the day, a good shepherd inspects each sheep as the enter the pin at night to see if there is any cut or aggravation that needs attention that only the shepherd can provide relief from.
Some facts about sheep (besides being dumb animals and needing a good shepherd to survive):
Sheep will not lay down unless they are completely free of fear and hunger.
To be at rest a sheep must be completely free of aggravation.
Sheep do not look for a shepherd. They are not smart enough to know they need a shepherd.
It is possible for sheep to fall on their backs and not be able to get up.
So now look at the list about a good shepherd. Do you see anything about Jesus that you haven't seen before?
For me it was that picture of a nightly inspection of any cut or aggravation that I had suffered that only Jesus could attend to. I have begun to pray that Jesus will inspect me. To take care of any hurt that only he can attend to. He does it anyway...me praying for it doesn't make it happen but it does help me to be aware that I have a Good Shepherd who tenderly cares for me and every hurt I have. He is searching me, he is attending to me. I don't have to do anything...I'm not even smart enough to know I need it!
So now look at the list about the sheep. Do you see anything new?
Honestly most of those were new for me. I just knew that sheep were dumb!
But the idea that sheep can actually fall on their backs and not get up was something that spoke to me at the time. Psalm 42:11 says "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why do disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God." Downcast is actually the term for a sheep that has fallen on their back and cannot get up. In the hours and weeks following the news of our miscarriage I was downcast. Remember the email I sent my girlfriends just hours after the news of my loss? Remember the first set of "I am" statements I made at the end of that email? That was the perfect picture of someone who is downcast. I was literally on my back with no hope of getting up myself. Remember my second set of "I am" statements? That is the picture of someone who has been inspected by the Good Shepherd and tenderly cared for so that I might rest.
As a believer I am secure in my salvation. With that salvation I have received the Good Shepherd who attends to me daily. I am thankful each night when my head hits the pillow for my Good Shepherd, who in the quite of that moment is searching out each hurt and tending gently to every need I have, even those I am not aware of.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
John 10:11
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me--
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--
and I lay down my life for the sheep.
John 10:14-15
The Lord is my Shepherd. He restores my soul.
Psalm 23:1a,3a
No comments:
Post a Comment