Devotional thought composed for TSA Devotional Book, June 2015. Presented to River Street Cafe, 15 April 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay
Read John 10:1-5
In the
scriptures we have often been compared to sheep. In contemporary shepherding we
are also comparable to sheepdogs. Shepherd Jared Epp showed us a number of ways
at Beaver Creek Camp one summer:
* The sheepdogs
know their master’s voice;
* The sheepdogs
learn their master’s signals;
* The longer
they serve the good shepherd the more they get to know him;
* The sheepdogs
have a job to do;
* Their job is
to herd the sheep to the shepherd;
* The nature of
the sheepdogs is such that if they were left completely to their own devices
they would quite likely kill the sheep;
* When they
follow the shepherd not one sheep needs to be lost.
This
is a lot like us as Christians. We are the Lord’s sheepdogs. We have been tasked
with the great commission to proclaim the good news to the world so that
whosoever will may be saved. If we try to do this on our own we will fail and
some sheep will inevitably perish. However, as we turn our eyes and our ears
toward Jesus – the Good Shepherd – as we listen to his direction and follow his
lead, he will use us to bring the whole flock safely home to be with him. As
this is the case it is my prayer that we will all be faithful sheepdogs.
Are
you working for the Lord as a sheepdog works for the shepherd? How are the
attributes of a sheepdog of salvation reflected in your life of serving the
Lord?
[1] Based on the article by Captain Michael Ramsay, We are
Sheepdogs. Sheepspeak (August 24,
2009) On-line: http://renewnetwork.blogspot.ca/2009_08_01_archive.html#3592587213509775337
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