Jesus is my Shepherd....

This week, I had the honor of blogging for my church's women's page. Please enjoy the blog that I submitted to them. 

   

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 23^rd 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.

            When I get down about having had a double mastectomy, its ok, my shepherd knew about this and was with the earthly physicians and He protected me! I should not be afraid when I enter the dark valleys of depression and chemotherapy and radiation. My shepherd did not let me go there alone. He is with me. 

             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.