The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
I have heard sermons before about the lifestyle of being a shepherd and how sheep are really dumb (which are analogous to us as human beings). However, Pastor Scott put a new perspective on shepherds and shepherding.
1. As a shepherd, you are more than likely to be quite poor. This is because as a shepherd you have saved and saved until you can purchase a flock of your own and then once you have purchased your flock, it is a lifelong commitment because the sheep depend on you for everything. Further, there is no real rest for the shepherd as he has to tend to his flock in the blistering heat of summer and the frigid cold of winter. The shepherd invests everything into taking care of his flock.
This is so much like Jesus where he took care of us by leaving everything he had on the cross. I loved Pastor Scott's story about this boy and his boat:
There once was this boy who became very interested in boats. After seeing this very nice toy ship he decided to make one of his own. He worked so hard on it and it was finally ready to be used on the water. He brought it down to the water and in the beginning everything was going great, the boat was sailing back and forth, but then there was a change in the wind and his boat started sailing further and further away from the boy, until he could no longer see it in the distance. He had lost his boat.
Then one day while he was walking down the street, something caught his eye in the toy store. He had to look 2 or 3 times to make sure that it was true, but there it was, it was his boat!
He quickly ran into the toy shop and told the owner, "That is my boat in the window! I made it! Can I have it back?"
The store owner replied, "Of course you can... As long as you have the money to pay for it."
So the boy ran home and worked hard to get enough money to pay for the boat. When he finally had enough, he ran to the store, pulled out all his money and coins onto the table. The store owner counted the money and took the boat from the store window.
The boy took the boat, hugged it and said, "You are mine."
Isn't that such a great story? This is an analogy to God's relationship with us. We are twice his--He made us, yet we fall short of his glory because of our sin, we are sinners by nature and by choice, and become separated from him, but he buys us back through his son, Jesus Christ, and we become his once more.
2. God had to mark and name his flock. This is where the second part of the first line comes into play. In order to differentiate their own flock from others, shepherds would have to mark their flock with symbols and colours. As Christians we have that mark as well. It may not be as evident as the symbols on the sheep, but when we have Christ in our lives we are changed and it makes us different from other flocks.
In addition, when we know God, we will be content in Christ and trust that God knows the best for us. This includes blessings and trials. And we have to remember that sometimes God's richest blessings are trials, this is when we draw the closest to God.
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