A devotional thought presented originally to Swift Current Men’s Prayer Breakfast, Thursday 18 June 2015. Presented to the River Street Cafe 15 April 2016
Read Psalm 23
One summer the Saskatchewan Officers and the Prairie divisional leadership team were able to hear a wonderful speaker. This exciting speaker was a shepherd named Jared. Jared often has the opportunity to share the gospel with school children and campers. He brought his sheep to meet us all at Beaver Creek.
There were a number of good analogies that were part of his presentation. Someone observed that we are often referred to as sheep in the scriptures and asked if it were true that indeed sheep are ‘stupid’. Jared declined to answer the question directly; instead he replied that sheep are ‘cute’. He further commented that they are obstinate animals. This was nicely illustrated in an earlier conversation he had with us. He compared us, as the scriptures often do, to the obstinate sheep and the good shepherd to God. The sheep are unable to lead themselves and when they try often wind up bunching together and literally walking around in circles. These obstinate sheep, even though they may recognize their shepherd’s voice, do not always come to the good shepherd even when it is in their best interest. This is why contemporary shepherds have sheepdogs.
The dog is a natural predator of the sheep and if the shepherd did not forbid it, the dog would quite happily kill and eat a sheep. The good shepherd is in control however and he uses these dogs quite nicely to save the sheep from real danger by herding, or ‘hunting’, them closer to himself. The shepherd allows the dogs to ‘hunt’ the sheep in order to bring them closer to himself so that the sheep will remain saved from destruction and even death.
Jared, the shepherd, drew a parallel from his own life. In trying times when he is struggling with something, he compares his difficulties to the Lord’s sheepdogs sent to draw him closer to the Lord. I think this is an expression of the reality espoused in the wisdom literature of the Bible and as such it can be a source of comfort when we are going through difficult times. If we remember that the Good Shepherd is always in control, then maybe we can be better equipped to respond to the various sheepdogs that appear in our own lives by drawing closer to the Lord.
When have you come through times of feeling hunted, only to realize that the Lord really was and is protecting you? How has the Lord enabled you to draw closer to Him in difficult times?
[1] Based on the article by Captain Michael Ramsay, We are Sheep. Sheepspeak (August 24, 2009) On-line: http://renewnetwork.blogspot.ca/2009_08_01_archive.html#4247040791585143519
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