Tag: sheep

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Proverbs Devotionals

Tending our sheep

Know well the condition of your flock,
and pay attention to your herd. (Proverbs 27:23)

Those words made me stop and think a bit about those God has given me to care for. My wife. My daughter. People in my small group.

Do I know well their condition? Do I pay attention to their needs? 

Why is that important? 

One reason is found in verses 24-27. Not only will they be blessed by us. But the day will come when we will be blessed by them. 

But more importantly, we have our own Shepherd’s command. 

He said to Peter. “Do you love me? Then feed my lambs. Take care of my sheep. Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

He says the same to us. We cannot separate love for Jesus from our love for others, especially those God has put in our care. 

Who has God put into your care? Do you know their condition? Do you pay attention to their needs?

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John Devotionals

If you love Jesus…

John

As I read Jesus’ words to Peter, they really hit home today.

Do you love me? Then feed my lambs. (John 21:15)

Do you love me? Then shepherd my sheep. (16)

Do you love me? Then feed my sheep. (17)

Love for Jesus is more than investing in your relationship with him. It’s caring for the people that God has put in your care.

That starts in the home. If you’re a husband, that means feeding and shepherding your wife.

If you’re a father or mother, that means feeding and shepherding your children.

Obviously pastors are in a special position to care for the people in their church.

But if you’re a small group leader, you have that responsibility too.

If you’re a Sunday school teacher or ministry leader, you have that responsibility too.

If you have ever led a friend to Jesus, you have that responsibility too.

A single pastor can only do so much. We are called to minister to others. To feed Jesus’ sheep. To shepherd them.

It’s easy in this Covid season to focus only on ourselves. But what Jesus told Peter, he tells all of us.

“Do you love me?

Then feed my lambs.

Shepherd my sheep.

Feed my sheep.”

Categories
Matthew Devotionals

Kicked out of our comfort zones

Matthew

Today I read a passage very familiar to me.

When he saw the crowds, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” (Matthew 9:36-38)

Two things struck me that I had never thought of before. Matthew says that the people were distressed and dejected like sheep without a shepherd.

The words “distressed and dejected” have the idea of being torn and cast down.

As I thought of that image, I then recalled what Jesus had said to the Pharisees earlier in the chapter.

Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. (13)

Many of the sheep the shepherds raised in Israel were meant to be used as sacrifices. But in Jesus’ eyes, these torn and cast down sheep were not just meant for the sacrificial altar.

Jesus had a heart filled with compassion for these sheep and he longed to show mercy to them. To care for them. To heal their wounds.

And that’s what he did.

But living as a man on earth, there was a limit to what he could do.

And so he sent out his disciples to reach out to the mass of lost sheep scattered throughout Israel. And then he sent 72 more people out so that they could reach even more sheep.

But before doing so, he told his disciples to pray that God would send out more workers.

That word “send” is a very interesting one. It literally means, “drive out.” It’s the word that is often used for driving out demons.

Interestingly enough, it’s the same word that is used for the Holy Spirit driving Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted.

And here, Jesus says, “Pray to the Lord of the harvest that he would drive more workers out into the harvest field.”

It’s what God did with the early church when they got too comfortable doing “church” in Jerusalem.

Jesus had told them to go out into the whole world and preach the gospel. They hadn’t even gotten as far as Samaria yet. Many of them were still stuck in Jerusalem.

So God used persecution to drive them out of Jerusalem. The result? They started sharing the gospel everywhere they went. (Acts 8:1-4).

Is it possible that God needs to do that to his people again?

How many of us, (and I include myself in this), are far too comfortable with our lives? How many of us lack the compassion for the torn and cast down as Jesus was?

Lord of the harvest, drive out more workers out of their comfort zones and into the harvest field. Give them your heart.

Give me your heart. Here am I. Send me.

Categories
John John 10

The Gate

John

Many people wonder, “Why does Jesus have to be the only way to God?”

The short answer: because he said so.

Jesus told the people,

I tell you the truth, the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1)

There are many people that try to tell us how to go to heaven.

The Pharisees said it was by a rigorous keeping of not only the law, but of the rules and traditions that they held to as well. Even today, many people try to enter heaven through their efforts.

But Jesus tells us that anyone who tries to enter heaven through any other way than the gate, is a thief and a robber.

And not only do they try to grasp what they can never achieve through their own efforts, they will steal your souls and send them to eternal judgment if you follow them. Jesus said,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10a)

Here, I believe Jesus is talking about the great Thief, Satan. But Satan will use people to try to lead us to spiritual destruction.

This is not to say that these people themselves are aiming to destroy us. Their intentions are generally very good. But they have been deceived themselves, and if we follow them, we’ll follow them right into the pit.

What then is the gate that we are to enter by? Jesus said,

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. (John 10:9)

The picture Jesus gives us here is very interesting.

When a shepherd went out into the field and put the sheep to rest, he would take them to a temporary fold that had only one entrance. And when the shepherd went to sleep, he would sleep right at the entrance. He literally was the gate.

Jesus is saying here that if you want to enter God’s kingdom, if you want to live a life that is truly blessed, it can only come through him. And anyone who tells you different is a thief who will lead you to destruction.

Again, Jesus said,

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. (John 10:10a)

But then, he concludes,

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10b)

Do you want a full life? A complete life? There is only one way. There is only one gate. The only question is, will you use it?