SHEEP... Sunday

Devotional for 5/3/15

Sheep are meek and docile.  Their shepherd guides and protects them, and they faithfully follow their shepherd.  They can also be skittish, easily scared by noises or shadows.  Sometimes what scares them is an actual enemy out to steal them away and kill them.  This fear can protect the sheep from predators if they run fast enough, but can also cause them to become lost easily from the group.  Luckily, they also have a keen sense of hearing and can recognize their shepherd's voice as he calls for them.

This is why Jesus is called the Good Shepherd, and we are the sheep of his pasture. He guides and protects us, and we faithfully follow him, or at least we usually try.  Sometimes we are easily distracted or run due to fear.  The noises and shadows of this world can be very deceiving.  The chief thief, Satan, also can snatch us away when we wander too far.  We may easily get lost as we turn our backs on God.  Luckily, He comes searching for us and calls us by name.  He even sacrifices his own Son's life to rescue us from eternal death.  And when we are still lost and dead in our sins, He picks us up and holds us in his life-giving arms.  Sometimes, like a child, we struggle to get free from what we may feel as being trapped.  But if we allow his loving arms to hold us and his Spirit to work in our hearts, we soon feel the peace and comfort that only He can give! As we come to him "sheepishly," full of guilt but also repentance, our sin is wiped away as he forgives us yet again, every time.

John 10:14-15 (NIV) "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father - and I lay down my life for the sheep."

Dear Lord, thank you for guiding and protecting me as my Good Shepherd and for bringing me back into your flock when I stray yet again.  No matter what I have done to turn away from you, or how many times, you continue to love and forgive me. Undeserved though it be, your grace and mercy are ever with me.  Help me to witness this to the world!  In your name, Amen.

written by Jan Andersen