COMPASSIONATE SHEPHERD AND HIS BLESSED SHEEP!!

Compassionate Shepherd and
His Blessed Sheep!

Verse for Today: Thursday, September 01, 2011

Psalms 80:1 – Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel, You who lead Joseph like a flock.

Sheep are some of the dumbest animals. They are prone to wander thoughtlessly and often get lost. They are also physically and mentally weak. They need the tender love and care of a committed shepherd to lead them on a daily basis. Patience and forgiveness are the two greatest virtues required for a shepherd because the sheep take a lot of time to mature and settle down under his discipline. He will have to discipline the sheep softly lest they would be hurt beyond their capacity to bear. We were all lost sheep and the Lord Jesus, the Great Shepherd, came to this world to seek and to find us through His death on the cross of Calvary. But He being the eternal Shepherd leads us day by day throughout our sojourn. He knows that we walk through this world which is a hard, hot and miserable wilderness. We are prone to wander and go our way and easily get ourselves entangled with the deceptive attractions around us. He also knows that the enemy of our soul is out there to detract and drag us away from our walk. So He is ever so patient with us and forgives our shortcomings and thoughtless wanderings. When we get into trouble in our wanderings, we have the privilege to cry unto the Shepherd and He will surely come to our rescue. But if we wander, we have to suffer its consequences. He forgives our falling away and brings us brings us back to His fold again to lead us as He led the children of Israel in the wilderness for 40 long years. His desire is to give us spiritual rest in the land of Canaan under His care. He tells us through His Spirit to follow Him, and wants us to stay with other flock that is in His sheep pen. When we have such a wonderful, kind, benevolent and patient Shepherd, and if we have experienced His love and patience, how can we ever wander from Him?

Dear reader, have you had the opportunity to experience the tender love and care of the Great Shepherd? The more we experience Him, the more we want Him in our lives. He is like the honey in the honeycomb. His love is sweeter day by day. His compassion is great and He deals with us in His grace. He gives us spiritual food and drink for our sustenance and growth. His desire is that we become like Him in this world and portray Him in our life. He is our role model and the perfect example for each and every avenue of our lives. He has promised to give us His best and so there is no need to go to any other field to glean. We are fortunate to be in His vineyard where there is sufficient to meet our every need. He is our protector and master when we encounter the enemy on the inside and outside. But it takes discipline to follow Him as part of His flock. When we follow Him, we are guaranteed to be led by Him in all walks of life. As we walk with Him, He talks with us and fills our every desire. As we experience Him more, our desire for Him will enlarge and we will have the craving for Him and His glory as the deer pants for the brooks. When He is our Shepherd, we have every thing we need. He gives us His peace so that we need not fret over any eventualities in life. He fills us with His love so that we do not feel unloved as orphans. His presence is open for us all the time to go to. As He is our King, we can live like kings in this world to enjoy His blessings and worship Him as His priests. All of these are given to us without any price because Jesus paid it all on the cross. Let us today live boldly as His flock and enjoy His heavenly resources even though we might be materially paupers in this world. We might be lonely and friendless in this world, but we are in the company of His flock as we walk after Him in sweet and enjoyable fellowship.

Psalms 95:7 – For He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.

Thought for Today
If we take time to know how wonderful our Shepherd is, we would not want to go to any other field to graze.

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