SHEEP WITHOUT A SHEPHERD – A Simple Invitation
November 18th, 2008 categories: Grazing Spiritual Pastures
We all know that Jesus is supposed to be the focal point of our Christian walk. It is interesting how often we can lose that focus though. There is much to learn in life and about life but if Jesus isn’t the focal point, whatever we are doing will fall short of God’s best for us. It’s not that the other things are bad, just not the best. I don’t know about you but I want the best. Knowing Jesus, that’s the best!
How do we know Jesus? The Gospels, of course, are a great place to start. Every time I start reading and seeking to know Jesus through the Gospels, it always amazes me how much of a non-conformist Jesus actually was (and is). I so admire that! He wasn’t hooked into the demands of others. If something or someone placed another demand on Him that didn’t conform to His father’s wishes, He just refused. He was fixed on listening to the Father and then doing only that! Independent but submitted. Strong but meek.
And, it’s not that He refused to do what others wanted because He didn’t care. He just did not fall into the trap of doing only the obvious. He was always working the bigger plan … a plan that was inspired with the Father’s heart, a heart of compassion.
“Seeing the people, He (Jesus) felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a Shepherd.” Matthew 9:36 NKJ
It is interesting to think about what all that actually means. He was actually quoting from Ezekiel 34 (which to a Jew was not just one verse but the whole context of the one verse). That particular chapter actually was a very strong denouncement of the then Shepherds of Israel. The gist: they were feeding themselves and not the sheep, they were using the sheep for their own purposes, they were NOT doing what they were supposed to be doing: bringing back the lost, healing the wounded, binding up the broken. And the result: The sheep were scattered and becoming prey to the wild animals. Not a pretty picture concerning the condition of either the shepherds or the sheep.
What comes to my mind in all of this is a phrase that I have mentioned before. The phrase is “Wayfaring Strangers.” I woke up one morning last year with that phrase rumbling in my mind (I always know that the Lord is speaking to me when a very unusual thought comes to my mind as soon as I wake up). Obviously, I have pondered the thought often and have to date felt like it very much describes the people that we are drawn to and those that are drawn to us.
So, add to that, this Scripture and I wonder some more …
What I have NOT focused on before was the idea that those wandering actually become prey to the wild animals. One could make a very strong case that some or much of what afflicts many believers is due to the fact that they are scattered and not being fed properly. Bottom Line, the point is: We need each other! We need to be together and we need to be fed and we don’t need to be FED UPON!
The good news is at the end of Ezekiel 34. God makes a promise to search for them HIMSELF and to seek them out HIMSELF, to bring them to a place of safety and to feed them, to lead them to rest.
All of that was what was stirring in the mind of Jesus when it was said that “Seeing the people, He had compassion on them … (He saw them as being) … sheep without a Shepherd.” He was the Shepherd that God has sent!
What good news! Compassion (according to dictionary.com) is a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering. The Hebrew word for compassion also brings in the idea of loving deeply … having tender affection for another.
The question(s) then …
- DO YOU TRULY KNOW AND BELIEVE THAT JESUS HAS COMPASSION ON YOU IN THIS WAY?
- ARE YOU WILLING TO ALLOW JESUS TO LEAD YOU ACCORDING TO THE FATHER’S PLAN FOR YOU (E.G., NOT YOUR WAY BUT HIS?)
- DO YOU PERCEIVE YOURSELF AS A “WAYFARING STRANGER”? AND, IF SO, ARE YOU LOOKING TO COME TOGETHER WITH OTHERS SUCH AS YOURSELF?
If so, we’re here … What that looks like, I’m not sure … We’re here in a lot of different ways, I suppose. You can call either Buddy (210-508-1606) or me (210-535-9463) or email us and we’ll try to discern that with you.
Truly, this is not an advertisement, it’s just a simple invitation … an invitation inspired with the heart of Jesus Himself!
RESPOND WITH YOUR MOOS & VIEWS HERE
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