Jesus
is My Shepherd, He’s Your Shepherd too!
As most know, I am battling breast cancer right now. My
neighbor has brought me a couple meals recently and this last time she brought
me a figurine. It is a shepherd with a lamb at his feet. She attached a note to it that said “the Good
Shepherd here is Jesus… and you… are the lamb.” It included the scriptures:
Psalm 23 and Isaiah 40:11.
I was very touched by this and for some reason had
not really put that together with my fight or my life. But it’s true, for all
of us.
As he prophesied about the Messiah, Isaiah said in
chapter 40 “Like a shepherd, He will tend His flock. In His arm He will gather
the lambs and carry them in His bosom;” Jesus will carry his lambs.
As a baptized believer in Jesus Christ, I am one
of his lambs. I am a Lamb of God! That is amazing and wonderful news! But, what
does this mean, exactly? If I am a Lamb of God, what do the shepherding duties
entail?
Well,
the job of a shepherd is often a hard and lonely job. Most shepherds work in
“isolated areas and independently except for perhaps the assistance of dogs.”
The shepherd’s biggest responsibility is the “safety and welfare of the flock”.
This can be up to 1,000 or more sheep at a time. The shepherd looks for good
places and safe places for the sheep and watches out for poisonous plants. He
also keeps track of all the sheep and looks for lost sheep.
Shepherds also have to protect the sheep. This is where the
dogs come in. They can warn the shepherds if coyotes, wolves or mountain lions
are near. These predators can outright attack the sheep or chase them to
exhaustion causing them to die. Sheep also have the threat of health issues.
Insects that cause disease, injuries can occur and as the shepherd and sheep are
so far away, the shepherd must tend to these. The shepherd is also responsible
for giving medication and vaccines to the sheep.
Sheep also need their wool shorn. This is something that
is sometimes done by the shepherd as well. The shepherd is experienced. This
makes a difference because due to his experience, he can shear up to “125 sheep
a day without nicking or cutting the skin, and removes the fleece intact.” The
sheep trust the shepherd to shear them. They trust that the shepherd knows
what’s best.
How this reminds me of our Master Shepherd!
Doesn’t Jesus do the same for us? In his 23 Psalm, David tells us that “The
Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not
want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.”
Jesus, Himself, said in John “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My
own know me.” Jesus also told us in Luke 15 of the Parable of the Lost Sheep.
He said if you lost one of your 100
sheep, wouldn’t you leave the 99 and go find the lost one? Then rejoice when it is found. Jesus does
that! If we stray or we do not know Him, He will look for us and rejoice when
we come back to Him!
Again, David tells us in the 23rd Psalm
how the Lord protects us. “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I
will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they
comfort me.” When David said “The Lord is my shepherd, he continued on to
describe his shepherd and what the shepherd would use to protect him!” Again in
John 10, Jesus says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow
me. I have given them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will
snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus is our healer as well. He said in Mark “It
is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners.” He is our shepherd/ physician who cares for us sinners!
Jesus tells us in John that “Every branch in Me
that does not bear fruit, He <meaning the Father> takes away; and every
branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” To me
pruning is similar to shearing. Both cut back to show more beauty. Jesus and
his father shear/ prune us so that we can become more beautiful.
So
how do I apply this to my life and how do you apply it to yours? For myself, I
think I need to remember that at this time in my life as I fight this disease,
maybe the Lord is pruning me. When this is over and the pruning is all done, I
will bear more fruit and more wonderful fruit. I am one of the Lord’s sheep and
He is my shepherd. Even if I stray off the path that He has set out for me, He
will come and find me and rejoice! The Lord will protect me! He will do
anything to keep me safe and to heal me. I need to remember that even if I do
not beat this cancer here on earth (which I totally believe I will) that
sometimes to heal me as my shepherd/ physician, He will bring me home. There I
will be healed completely.
I placed the figurine right beside my side of the
bed. My intention is to be able to look at it daily and remember that during
this journey, Jesus is with me me. It reminds me of who I am. I am a precious
sheep to a wonderful shepherd. When I am so down and tired and depressed and
sick, it’s ok…. My shepherd is going to get me where I need to go because my
shepherd knows His sheep and they know Him. He knows me and if I stray He will
find me. He will care for me and love me thru this.
Whatever
valley you may be in right now, remember… you have a shepherd that loves YOU.
He may even carry you thru this valley, but regardless, he is with you and his
rod and staff not only comfort you, but lead the way … and when you and I get
thru this valley and see the other side that is bright and beautiful… all the
pruning will be worth it because that great sunshine outside of the valley will
bring beautiful bountiful fruit. Our shepherd will still be there because He
loves us and He does not leave His sheep.