We Like Sheep…Need a Shepherd

When I was little I was in a musical at our church, we sang this song that went something like this…

“We like sheep, we like sheep, we like sheep ‘cause sheep is what we are…”

I have been thinking about the symbolism of a shepherd and the role that a shepherd has in his sheep's lives. This is how dictionary.com defines the word shepherd:

shep·herd/noun 1.

a person who herds, tends, and guards sheep.

2.

a person who protects, guides, or watches over a person or group of people.

3.

a member of the clergy.

4.

the Shepherd, Jesus Christ. (from dictionary.com)

For starters, I love that Jesus is mentioned as part of the definition, that is so neat, remembering that this is not a Christian based website.  I am so struck by the words... herds, tends, guards, protects, guides, watches over...those are all verbs, action words, that Jesus desires and does participate in our lives on a daily basis.  Shepherds do not have a passive job, they are constantly working. Shepherds don't go home after a days work to sleep in their own beds, instead they stay out in the pasture with their sheep...even though the ground is hard and the elements may be less then pleasant. Shepherds don't like it when their sheep wander out of their watch, when they do...they go to them and lead them back to themselves, to safety. Shepherds make sure their flock is well fed and watered, they tend to each of their sheep's’ various needs. Shepherds protect their sheep from danger, they are willing to put themselves in harms way in effort to protect their sheep. 

This is so elementary, but such an awesome truth!  Jesus does each of these tasks (and more) in our own lives.  He tends to us, He guards us, He protects us, He guides us, He watches over us! Like a shepherd, Jesus doesn't leave us to fend for ourselves, He stays with us.  Jesus rescues us when we wander away from His fold and His truth when we wander into the wilderness where we can get caught in thorns and become snared...He knows when we have wandered and wants nothing more than to have us back near and close to Him.  Jesus was even an example of a shepherd throughout His ministry here on earth (though it was not His profession). Jesus stayed with His disciples, He lived with them, He ate with them...He didn't check in and then check out...He was committed to loving and teaching them! Jesus even called Himself a shepherd in John 10:14-15 "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep." (NLT)

I have found encouragement through this simple yet pivotal truth.  I  find myself challenged in regard to the sphere of influence that God has so graciously provided me with.  Am I caring for B as shepherd would his own sheep?  Am I herding, tending, guarding, protecting, guiding & watching over?  As I ponder this question in my own heart I am reminded of Proverbs 22:5-6 "In the paths of the wicked lie thorns and snares, but he who guards his soul stays far from them. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." (NIV).  What a challenge! I am glad that I have Jesus as my ultimate role model, but even more is my loving good Shepherd!

" Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95:6-7 (NIV)

Happy Sunday….Be Blessed!