The Good Shepherd

Jesus Christ is THE Good Shepherd. Everything he does for us is with our best interests at heart. King David in writing about the Lord who rescues us wrote from the point of view of a well cared for sheep in Psalm 23, and showed the contrite humble attitude we must and will develop as his sheep in Psalm 51. Our Lord Jesus is always full of care, like the shepherd in Psalm 23 and we are/were all sinners like King David and so Psalm 51 describes our path to Christ also!

In John 10:27-29 Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give unto them eternal life and they shall NEVER perish and no-one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all, and no-one can snatch them out of My Father's hand.

As His sheep we listen to Jesus, and follow him. He has given us eternal life as John 3:16 tells us, and no-one and nothing can take it away from us!

Unfortunately some people don't get the full picture! They want to believe that because a Christian HAS eternal life that he/she can do whatever they like and will get away with it because they are saved. They think like this because they ignore what God says in his word about training and discipline. God won't ignore it though!

Heb 12:5-8 And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? "My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives." It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.

In a very interesting book, written by someone who had been a shepherd, which I read a few years ago, the author expanded on Psalm 23, verse by verse, showing the love and care of a good shepherd of Christ's time for his sheep, how they benefited from the things mentioned in the psalm, and what it meant in a spiritual context for us. This was a time when sheep followed a shepherd from pasture to pasture. They were not driven from behind as in modern western practice. They would know their master's voice and obey and follow him.

One of the many thing that stayed in my mind after reading this book was his description of what the good shepherd might do to ensure he did not lose even the most wayward sheep which was always straying. If for the 70^th time the shepherd had to climb down a cliff to rescue this particular sheep and it was obvious it was not learning from it's experiences, he would take drastic action.

What he would do after the latest rescue was to break one of it's legs! Yes, actually! He would then bind up the leg with a splint so that it would heal properly. Then as the sheep could not walk back to the camp, he would put it on his shoulder and carry it back.

Back at the camp he would settle the sheep down near his camp fire so that he could look after it. He would cut grass from the choicest bit of pasture and bring it for the sheep. When it looked longingly at the stream wanting a drink he would either bring some water for it, or carry it to the stream and put it down by a pool of still clear water.

He would talk to it all the time, so that it would get to know his voice thoroughly and he would teach it his commands so that it would recognise what he required of it when he spoke. And, when they moved on to a new pasture he would carry the sheep, until it's leg was well again.