Path To Rest: Let God Be The Shepherd!
The role of God as our Shepherd is one full of loaded meanings that are capable of refashioning a doubtful heart into a faith filled one. “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want,” says the psalmist in psalm 23 vs.1.
Understanding the work of a shepherd will sure give us a lucid comprehension of God’s role in the life of his children. A shepherd watches over the sheep and doesn’t let his eyes off them. This means he stays up even when the simple creatures are asleep: “he who keeps Israel will neither sleep nor slumber” Psalm 121:4. If the sheep didn't have a shepherd, they would always have to be constantly on their toes for fear of the wild Cats, Jackals and Hyenas, who see them as fine food. They would have to be watching and guarding themselves, and by watching their own back, they wouldn't have time to eat the grass or lie down beside still waters in peace. They would always be distracted and as a result wouldn’t lead a quality life. The shepherd knows this quite well; to get the best out of the sheep, he has to do his best for the sheep, the reason he does his job with every sense of commitment. By this, the sheep know that their shepherd loves and cares for them, so they don't have to be constantly on guard. They don’t have to worry about the vicious predators that walk in the day or by night. A shepherd leads the sheep to green pastures. He knows it’s his duty to spot out a perfect location where they would graze. He leads them to the spot, where he makes them lie down in peace and feed in security. The sheep don’t have to worry about how to get there; that’s the business of the shepherd and not theirs. A shepherd leads the sheep beside still waters, where they would drink to their fill and be refreshed. They don’t have to worry about spotting a perfect spring for themselves, a place of refreshment. The shepherd does that for them, for he knows it’s his duty to do so. And as they drink, they don’t have to be afraid. They know the shepherd is watching over them. Bearing his staff in his hand, he walks around, watching, and if he sees a predator lurking around to destroy one of his sheep, he takes his staff and drives the wicked thing away. If the shepherd sees his whole flock drifting in the wrong direction—maybe toward a road where they might get hit by a passing vehicle, or toward a cliff where they might fall, or close to the trees where wolves, Lions and bears lurk, or to any place of danger—he begins to guide the sheep away from danger and back to safety. The man after God’s heart did this quite often. He wouldn’t let vicious creatures prey on any of his sheep; he said that himself. If a shepherd sees one of his sheep wandering off, he goes over and tries to get that sheep back to the flock. Sometimes he would have to tell the sheep, "Get back, hairy one!”
The above-illustrated picture of a good shepherd and his commitment to the welfare of his sheep can help us to comprehend what it means when the Scripture refers to God as our shepherd. Truly, God is our shepherd; and we are the sheep of his pasture. Yet God isn’t just a Shepherd. He is more than that: He is “the GOOD Shepherd.” You can’t get any shepherd anywhere who is as good and caring as our God. He seeks to lead us to life’s green pastures. It’s his utmost desire to bring us to a place of rest. Protecting and providing for us is his sole responsibility. As his sheep, it’s our right to be catered for by him; it’s our right to look up to him for all we need for sustenance, but that’s if we aren’t playing the shepherd ourselves. Many do that.
God isn’t anything like the shepherds (religious leaders) of our time, who are ruthless and egocentric in character. Of course, we have to draw the line here, since there are really bad shepherds out there in our churches today, pretty bad eggs raping and reaping the sheep apart, just to satiate their wanton desires. Examples of bad shepherds in today’s Church world are the men of gold parading themselves as clerics in most churches. You spot them by their fruits, as their concentration is always centered on money and how to fleece the faithful of their hard-earned money. It doesn’t matter to them how the sheep fare. All they care about is how to milk the sheep dry and even rip their skin out for personal suites. They are what the Lord termed as “hired hands” “thieves that came in not through the Gate but by the fence,” and that sure tells why they have protuberance eyes with which they spot out vulnerable and ignorant sheep for a kill. Accursed, mendacious characters doomed to fail!
You know a good shepherd by the disposition of his heart towards the sheep. He could put his life on the line trying to protect his sheep from the adversaries. This is what Jesus did for us on the Cross. He laid down his life for the sake of his sheep—you and your household. But one may say, “if Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd he claims to be, why then am I starving here like a rejected sheep?” the answer might not be farfetched, you know. There is every tendency you have assumed the position of the shepherd of your life and by that have relegated the Lord to the place of the sheep. You do that by living the worry lifestyle. When you make yourself a worrywart, you’re practically telling God you don’t trust him enough to leave issues of your life in his care. He isn’t going to wail because you didn’t let him be your shepherd. He’s so gentle that he can’t do that. Scripture says He knocks at the door of our hearts, and never that he pushes through the door of our hearts. If you want to live the happy life, then it’s time to let the shepherd do his work.
The Good Shepherd is now very interested in what goes on in his Church. Although today’s men of gold may be jumping up and down now like a Monkey given some Bananas because they believed they have relieved the Good Shepherd of his work; yet soonest, the tide will change. A mighty wind of Change is about to hit Church, and this wind will blow through the length and breadth of the Church to set things right. The era of deceit in the Body of Christ is quickly coming to an end, as the Chief Shepherd has already begun a process of awakening and consequent handover of power in his Body. Wicked and deceitful shepherds are going to meet with a sentence similar to the one handed herdsmen in Benue and Ekiti State. They are going to be cut down to size. The Truth of the Gospel is back again to set the myopic sheep free. The Lord has come to Shepherd his sheep by himself, to heal the wounds of his bruised sheep. If you are yet to make yourself his sheep, you can do that now. God bless you!
by Rev. Br. Kenneth Chigozie Alamezie, BSS