A pastor friend of mine, Mark Bray, recently posted this online:
Just finished a class at the Seminary on Isaiah that spent a lot of time on the shepherd and sheep metaphor that is all throughout this great Old Testament book. In caring for sheep…
The shepherd leads…
The shepherd protects…
The shepherd feeds…
The shepherd redirects…
The shepherd chases after…
The shepherd comforts…
The shepherd encourages…
The shepherd communicates…
The shepherd consoles…
The shepherd loves…
The shepherd saves…
But for all of this to happen, the shepherd must be present. Otherwise, how does the shepherd know what the sheep need in a given moment? A shepherd that is not with his sheep can’t possibly do the things above.
“…and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, GOD WITH US). – Matthew 1:23
When I read his post, I was remined of the five-year-old I heard about who was praying one Christmas Eve almost quoted Psalm 51:11 accurately, almost. He prayed, “O Lord, cast me not away from my presents.”
I hope you received some nice presents for Christmas this year. And I hope you remembered the cherished presents we have from heaven above in Christ: hope, love, peace, life, joy and glory. But most of all, Jesus, our Savior, our Shepherd, gave us His presence among us.
John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
“We have seen his glory.” Glory is the gift of knowing God up close and personal by the presence of Jesus Christ in our lives, and to know Him is to love Him.
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